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El Morro Castle
El Morro Castle, or El Castillo Del Morro, is an old fort that lies on the northernmost point of San Juan, Puerto Rico. For many years, it guarded the entrance to San Juan bay, and defended the city from seaborne enemies. El Morro, which means "promontory", was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations in 1983.
Today, El Morro Castle is one of Puerto Rico's main touristic sites and museums, displaying some of the artifacts that Spaniards, Indians and Africans of that time used and other exhibits, such as ship models of those times and rooms with written descriptions of what happened then. Tourists and locals enjoy flying kites in the ocean wind on the acres of grass surrounding the castle. Over two million visitors a year explore theme windswept ramparts and pageways.
El Morro Castle
Sentinel Station
Entrance to San Juan Bay
Historical Time Line of "El Morro"
1519 - Spanish settlers from Caparra found San Juan.
1539 - Construction of the first harbor defenses at El Morro and La Fortaleza authorized by King Carlos V.
1587 - Engineers Juan de Tejada and Juan Bautista Antonelli lay out the main design for El Morro still seen today.
1589 - Governor Diego Menendez begins new construction at El Morro.
1595 - Francis Drake attacks El Morro unsuccessfully by sea. Gunners from El Morro shoot a cannonball through the cabin of Drake's flagship.
1598 - George Clifford, Duke of Cumberland, attacks from the land side, the only time El Morro was taken in battle. English forces move into the fortress, but are so weakened by dysentery that the invasion force withdraws after only six weeks.
1625 - The Dutch under the command of Boudewijn Hendricksz attack and take San Juan from the land side. El Morro holds but the city is sacked and burned.
1630 - Governor Enrique Enriquez de Sotomayor begins construction of the city walls. Work continues until 1678 to encircle the city completely.
1765 - Field Marshall Alejandro O'Reilly and Royal Engineer Tomis O'Daly reform the defenses of San Juan by reorganizing the garrison and making the city a "Defense of the First Order".
1843 - First lighthouse in Puerto Rico constructed atop the castle.
1898 - On 12 May, US Navy warships shell El Morro in a day-long bombardment, damaging the tip of the main battery. Six months later, Puerto Rico becomes US territory by terms of the Treaty of Paris which ends the Spanish-American War.
1908 - Present lighthouse seen atop El Morro built by US Navy.
1942 - Still an active military post when World War I breaks out, concrete artillery observation posts and an underground bunker are added to El Morro.
1949 - San Juan National Historic Site is established.
1961 - The US Army moves out of the forts of Old San Juan, and they become the jurisdiction of the US National Park Service, to be preserved solely as museums.
1983 - San Juan National Historic Site declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations.
1992 - El Morro's grounds are returned to their historic 18th century appearance as part of Quincentennial restoration when modern roadways and parking lots are removed.
There is also another famous castle named "El Morro", this one in Havana, Cuba.
El Morro's sister castle, Castillo De San Cristobal, lies about 5 minutes driving distance to the east.
See also: List of noted Puerto Rican buildings
External link
This article is adapted from from Wikipedia All Wikipedia article text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
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