| La Union Watchtowers | |
|---|---|
| Native name Filipino: Mga Bantayán ng La Union | |
 Baluarte in Luna, La Union | |
| Type | Watchtowers |
| Location | At least five La Union municipalities: |
| Architectural style(s) | Spanish colonial |
| Official name | La Union Watchtowers |
| Designated | 2014 |
The province of La Union in the Philippines has various Spanish colonial watchtowers (bantayan) which are recognized as National Cultural Treasures since 2014. [1]
The Spanish first colonized the Ilocos Region in 1572. They would build large stone structures such as churches and forts in the following years. Watchtowers were built for sentry purposes against Moro and Chinese pirates as well as other European colonial powers. [1]
The fortifications are mostly built using coral blocks held together by lime and egg whites. In the contemporary period, the fortifications fell into disuse and many are in a neglected and damaged state. [1]
At least the Luna Watchtower was however used by the Americans during the Japanese occupation era of World War II. [2]
| Name | Municipality | NMP marked [1] | Coordinates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Almeida Watchtower | Balaoan | Yes | 16°49′06.5″N120°19′49.2″E / 16.818472°N 120.330333°E | |
| Bacnotan Watchtower | Bacnotan | No | situated inside private property | |
| Baluarte Watchtower | Luna | Yes | 16°51′24.3″N120°22′22.3″E / 16.856750°N 120.372861°E | |
| Carlatan Watchtower | San Fernando | No | 16°37′57.6″N120°18′39.8″E / 16.632667°N 120.311056°E | situated inside private property |
| Ili Sur Watchtower | San Juan | No | 16°40′17.6″N120°20′01.0″E / 16.671556°N 120.333611°E | Damaged |
A fortification is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin fortis ("strong") and facere.
A kasbah, also spelled qasba, qasaba, or casbah, is a fortress, most commonly the citadel or fortified quarter of a city. It is also equivalent to the term alcazaba in Spanish, which derives from the same Arabic word. By extension, the term can also refer to a medina quarter, particularly in Algeria. In various languages, the Arabic word, or local words borrowed from the Arabic word, can also refer to a settlement, a fort, a watchtower, or a blockhouse.
A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to provide a high, safe place from which a sentinel or guard may observe the surrounding area. In some cases, non-military towers, such as religious towers, may also be used as watchtowers.
The Castillo de la Real Fuerza is a bastion fort on the western side of the harbour in Havana, Cuba, set back from the entrance, and bordering the Plaza de Armas. Originally built to defend against attack by pirates, it suffered from a poor location; it was too far inside the bay. The fort is considered to be the oldest stone fort in the Americas, and was listed in 1982 as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of "Old Havana and its Fortifications".
Fortín Solano is an eighteenth-century colonial fortification overlooking Puerto Cabello, Venezuela. With the Castillo San Felipe, an earlier fort built at sea level, it formed part of a complex of fortifications designed to protect Puerto Cabello and its important harbour from naval attacks. It was constructed c. 1766 by order of Don José Solano y Bote on behalf of the King of Spain. It has been described as the last military construction built in Venezuela during the colonial era.
The Fortifications of Vauban is a UNESCO World Heritage Site made up of 12 groups of fortified buildings and sites along the borders of France. They were designed by renowned military architect Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (1633–1707) during the reign of King Louis XIV. These sites include a variety of fortifications, ranging from citadels, to mountain batteries and sea fortifications, to bastion walls and towers. In addition, the site includes cities built from scratch by Vauban and communication towers. These sites were chosen because they exemplify Vauban's work, bearing witness to the influence of his designs on military and civilian engineering on a global scale from the 17th century to the 20th century.
The Spanish forts of the Philippines, or fuerzas, are strongholds constructed by Filipinos and Spaniards primarily for protection against local and foreign aggressors during the Spanish colonial period, and during the subsequent American and Japanese occupations. Many are badly damaged, either due to old age or past conflicts. Currently, there are initiatives for restorations of all forts, beginning when the Baluarte Luna of La Union and the Intramuros of Manila were restored in the 2010s. In 2013, a typhoon and earthquake hit Central Visayas and damaged numerous Spanish fortifications, leading to the largest restoration activity for fortifications in Philippine history.
Coastal defenceand coastal fortification are measures taken to provide protection against military attack at or near a coastline, for example, fortifications and coastal artillery. Because an invading enemy normally requires a port or harbour to sustain operations, such defences are usually concentrated around such facilities, or places where such facilities could be constructed. Coastal artillery fortifications generally followed the development of land fortifications, usually incorporating land defences; sometimes separate land defence forts were built to protect coastal forts. Through the middle 19th century, coastal forts could be bastion forts, star forts, polygonal forts, or sea forts, the first three types often with detached gun batteries called "water batteries". Coastal defence weapons throughout history were heavy naval guns or weapons based on them, often supplemented by lighter weapons. In the late 19th century separate batteries of coastal artillery replaced forts in some countries; in some areas these became widely separated geographically through the mid-20th century as weapon ranges increased. The amount of landward defence provided began to vary by country from the late 19th century; by 1900 new US forts almost totally neglected these defences. Booms were also usually part of a protected harbor's defences. In the middle 19th century underwater minefields and later controlled mines were often used, or stored in peacetime to be available in wartime. With the rise of the submarine threat at the beginning of the 20th century, anti-submarine nets were used extensively, usually added to boom defences, with major warships often being equipped with them through early World War I. In World War I railway artillery emerged and soon became part of coastal artillery in some countries; with railway artillery in coast defence some type of revolving mount had to be provided to allow tracking of fast-moving targets.
El Castillo Hotel is a building with medieval-style architecture that was built in 1870 and is located in Valle Hermoso (Córdoba), Argentina. Since being built it has been used as a family mansion, a hotel, a union summer camp and a five-star hotel.
The Fortaleza de Santa Teresa, or Fortaleza Santa Tereza is a military fortification located 36 km (22 mi) south of Chuy and 305 km (190 mi) northeast of Montevideo on Route 9, in the Rocha Department of eastern Uruguay. It lies about 800 m (2,600 ft) from the coast at Playa la Moza, almost halfway between Angostura and La Coronilla , north of Punta del Diablo and roughly 4 km (2.5 mi) northeast of the northeast bank of the Laguna Negra. It lies within the Santa Teresa National Park. It was erected from October 1762 by the Portuguese, having abandoned the attempt at building a fort in Maldonado and leaving the Fuerte San Miguel.
Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar is a beach resort, hotel, convention center and heritage destination in Bagac, Bataan, Philippines.
The Castillo del Príncipe is a military fort located in the Loma de Aróstegui, in Havana, Cuba. In 1982, the fort was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, along with other historic sites in Old Havana, because of the city's importance in the European conquest of the New World, its fortifications, and its unique architecture.
The Fort of Saint Vincent Ferrer or commonly known as Punta Cruz Watchtower (Tagalog: Bantayan ng Punta Cruz) is a Spanish colonial era watchtower located at the western tip of the municipality of Maribojoc, Bohol, Philippines. Also known as Maribojoc Watchtower because of its geographical location, it is located three kilometers (1.9 mi) away from Maribojoc Church. It is known for being the "only perfect isosceles triangle" tower-fort structure in the Philippines.
The fortifications of Malta consist of a number of walled cities, citadels, forts, towers, batteries, redoubts, entrenchments and pillboxes. The fortifications were built over hundreds of years, from around 1450 BC to the mid-20th century, and they are a result of the Maltese islands' strategic position and natural harbours, which have made them very desirable for various powers.
The fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo are military constructions, built by the Spanish Empire during the 17th and 18th centuries on the Caribbean coastline of Colón Province in Panama. The ruins are located on the coast of the province of Colón. In view of their cultural importance, the sites have been inscribed by UNESCO in 1980 as a World Heritage Site under Criteria (i) and (iv), with the description, "Magnificent examples of 17th- and 18th-century military architecture, these Panamanian forts on the Caribbean coast form part of the defence system built by the Spanish Crown to protect transatlantic trade."
The San Ignacio de Loyola Parish Church, commonly known as Capul Church or Fuerza de Capul, is a Roman Catholic fortress church in the municipality of Capul, Northern Samar, Philippines within the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Catarman. It was first established as a mission station by the Jesuits in 1596 under the advocacy of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.
The Fort Nossa Senhora da Luz, also known locally as Castle of Senhora da Luz is a fort in the civil parish of Luz, municipality of Lagos in the Portuguese Algarve, classified as a Property of Public Interest.
The Twin Forts of Romblon are a pair of Spanish fortifications located in the town of Romblon, Romblon in the Philippines. It was built by the Spanish in 1644 to protect the town from Muslim raids and Dutch piracy in the country during the Eighty Years' War. In 2013, the site has been declared a National Cultural Treasure under the protection of the Philippine government through the National Museum of the Philippines.
The Plaza Independencia is a Spanish colonial era plaza in Cebu City.
 | This article about a building or structure in the Philippines is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
