San Carlos de Borromeo Fortress

Last updated
San Carlos de Borromeo Fortress
Pampatar, Isla Margarita
Fortin de Pampatar.jpg
San Carlos de Borromeo Fortress
Venezuela location map (+claimed).svg
Red pog.svg
San Carlos de Borromeo Fortress
Coordinates 10°59′51″N63°47′55″W / 10.997513°N 63.798485°W / 10.997513; -63.798485
Site history
Built1664 (1664) - 1684 (1684)
Built byJuan Betín (design)
Captain Carlos Navarro (construction)

San Carlos de Borromeo Fortress (Spanish : Castillo San Carlos de Borromeo) is a colonial fortress in the Bay of Pampatar in the northeast of Isla Margarita, Venezuela. It was completed in 1684 for protection against the constant threat of pirates. The fortress was ransacked several times before Venezuela gained independence from Spain. Today the castle has been restored and serves as a museum.

Contents

History

Pampatar, or Port Royal Mampatare, was founded in 1536 on the shore of the best protected deep water anchorage on the island. [1] The city was divided into two parts due to the irregular coastline. [2] The original castle was built over a period of about 20 years, started in 1622. [2] It was sited in the heart of the old city, looking out over the Bay of Pampatar. Its purpose, together with the La Caranta fort on the other side of the bay, was to protect the town from pirates with crossfire. [3]

The fort was destroyed by Dutch pirates in 1662 when they burned Pampatar. [4] In 1664 Captain Carlos Navarro began the reconstruction of the castle after a design by military engineer Juan Betín. [3] In 1676 Juan Muñoz Gadea was appointed Governor of Margarita. When he reached the island in August 1677 he found that it had been devastated earlier in the year by a privateering raid by the French Marquis de Maintenon. Gadea focused all available resources, including some of his own funds, on completing and manning Fort San Carlos. [5] The work was eventually completed in 1684. In subsequent years the castle was destroyed and rebuilt several times. [3] La Caranta was destroyed by pirates in 1626. The ruins remain. [2]

During the Venezuelan War of Independence the revolutionary Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi was held in the castle in 1816 while being moved from the Castillo de Santa Rosa in La Asunción to the prison in La Guaira on the mainland. She is considered the heroine of the war of independence, and her remains are now in the National Pantheon of Venezuela. [3]

On 3 November 1816 the Spanish were forced to evacuate Isla Margarita. After boarding all the soldiers and supplies, they left a lighted fuse leading to a pile of gunpowder that would have destroyed the castle. A revolutionary soldier noticed the fuse by accident and extinguished it before any damage was done. [3] The next year the Spanish under General Pablo Morillo returned to the island and made the fort their headquarters during a campaign to regain control. However, after six weeks in which the islanders reverted to guerrilla warfare the Spanish returned to the mainland. [6]

Structure

Layout of the fortress San Carlos de Borromeo Fortress plan.svg
Layout of the fortress

The castle is a classical example of contemporary military architecture, typical of fortifications built along the coast of Venezuela during that period. [3] The fort has thick stone walls. [1] The square structure has four observation towers, one at each corner. [4] The base is star-shaped. The coastal battery consisted of a dozen cannon pointing across the bay. [7] There is a moat around the fort, but it was never practical to fill it with water. [3]

Today

San Carlos de Borromeo Castle has been renovated and is now a museum. [2] Many of the fort's rooms were made into exhibition areas. [8] The restoration was completed in 1968. The museum includes paintings of heroes of the War of Independence, and of events in the war. One commemorates the Battle of Matasiete, and is the most popular item in the collection. [4] In this battle, fought on 31 July 1817, revolutionary forces under General Francisco Esteban Gómez defeated Spanish Royalist forces under the command of General Morillo outside La Asunción, a few miles to the northwest. [9] There are also old weapons and a replica of Christopher Columbus's boat, the Santa María . [4] The museum also has a collection of memorabilia of Luisa Caceres de Arismendi. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nueva Esparta</span> State in Venezuela

The Nueva Esparta State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It comprises Margarita Island, Coche, and the largely uninhabited Cubagua.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish reconquest of New Granada</span> Part of the Colombian war of independence

The Spanish reconquest of New Granada in 1815–1816 was part of the Spanish American wars of independence in South America and Colombian War of Independence. Shortly after the Napoleonic Wars ended, Ferdinand VII, recently restored to the throne in Spain, decided to send military forces to retake most of the northern South American colonies, which had established autonomous juntas and independent states. The Spanish expeditionary army under the command of Lieutenant General Pablo Morillo, with support from loyal colonial troops, completed the reconquest of New Granada by taking Bogotá on 6 May 1816.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margarita Island</span> Island in Venezuela

Margarita Island is the largest island in the Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta, situated off the northeastern coast of the country, in the Caribbean Sea. The capital city of Nueva Esparta, La Asunción, is located on the island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Asunción</span> City in Venezuela

La Asunción is a city in Venezuela. The capital of Nueva Esparta state, it lies on Margarita Island in the Caribbean Sea, off the South American mainland. It is situated in a fertile valley surrounded by green hills, 6 miles (10 km) inland from the port of Porlamar, where a cooler climate exists. The city was founded in 1565 by Captain Pedro González Cervantes de Albornoz. It has an imposing backdrop of Santa Rosa Castle, also known as the Santa Rosa Fort, which was built to protect the city. The most important structures in the city are built around the Plaza Bolívar. The Catedral Nuestra Señora de La Asunción, dated to the 16th century, is one of the earliest churches in the country. According to the 2011 census, it has a population of 28,513 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi</span>

Luisa Cáceres Díaz de Arismendi was a heroine of the Venezuelan War of Independence.

The anthem for the Nueva Esparta State, Venezuela, was written by Miguel Ángel Mata Silva; and composed by Benigno Rodríguez Bruzual.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porlamar</span> Place in Nueva Esparta, Venezuela

Porlamar is the most populated city, major seaport and major center in the state of Nueva Esparta, Venezuela. It is situated on the southern coast of Margarita Island, one of three islands in the Caribbean Sea off the South American mainland which make up the state of Nueva Esparta, at a distance of 6 miles (10 km) from the state capital of La Asunción. Porlamar is the capital of Mariño, the most populous of the eleven municipalities into which the state of Nueva Esparta is divided.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pampatar</span> City in Nueva Esparta, Venezuela

Pampatar is a city on Isla Margarita, Nueva Esparta State, Venezuela. It is located in the Maneiro Municipality.

Andrés Rodríguez de Villegas (1580–1631) was a Spanish soldier who served as governor and captain-general of the Province of Isla Margarita, Venezuela (1619–1626) and as governor of Spanish Florida (1630–1631).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castillo San Felipe de Barajas</span> Fortress in Cartagena, Colombia

The Castillo San Felipe de Barajas is a fortress in the city of Cartagena, Colombia. The castle was built in 1639 and is located on the Hill of San Lázaro in a strategic location, dominating approaches to the city by land or sea. It was originally known as the Castillo de San Lázaro. It was built by African slave labor under Spanish supervision during the colonial era. The fortress was involved in several battles between the late 17th to early 19th centuries between European powers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Rosa de la Eminencia castle</span> Colonial castle on Margarita Island, Venezuela

Santa Rosa de la Eminencia castle is a colonial castle built in the seventeenth century by the Spanish monarchy on Margarita Island, Venezuela. After a group of French pirates attacked the city of La Asunción, its construction started on 24 March 1677, by order of governor Juan Muñoz de Gadea, and it was finished c. 1683.

El amor las vuelve locas is a Venezuelan telenovela produced by Venevisión in 2005. The series is a remake of the telenovela Contra viento y marea written by Leonardo Padrón, and this new version was adapted by Alberto Gómez. The telenovela lasted for 151 episodes and was distributed internationally by Venevisión International.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francisco Esteban Gómez</span>

Francisco Esteban Gómez was a Venezuelan military officer who was active in the Venezuelan War of Independence. Known as the “patriot commander” of Margarita Island, he was noted for his participation in the defense of the island against invading Spanish forces. In particular, he is honored today as the hero of the Battle of Matasiete (1817).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Matasiete</span> Battle of Matasiete

The Battle of Matasiete was a battle in the Venezuelan War of Independence that took place on 31 July 1817 near the city of La Asunción on Isla Margarita in Venezuela. It was fought between pro-independence Republican revolutionaries led by Francisco Esteban Gómez and Spanish Royalist forces under the command of Pablo Morillo. The outcome was a Spanish defeat.

Juan Muñoz de Gadea was a Spanish soldier who served in Peru, Chile, Mexico and the Philippines. He was appointed Governor of Margarita in 1676.

Juan Fermín de Huidobro was a Spanish military engineer who was Governor of Margarita Province, in what is now Venezuela, between 1681 and 1683.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Carlos de la Barra Fortress</span> 17th-century star fort protecting Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela

San Carlos de la Barra Fortress is a 17th-century star fort protecting Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venezuelan independence</span> Emancipation process between 1810 and 1823 in Venezuela

The Venezuelan independence was the juridical-political process that put an end to the ties between the Captaincy General of Venezuela and the Spanish Empire. It also implied the replacement of the absolute monarchy by the republic as the form of government in Venezuela.

The Battle of Clarines took place during the Venezuelan War of Independence. Royalist forces attacked a north-bound force from the Third Republic of Venezuela near the town of Clarines. The outnumbered and poorly armed Royalists secured a victory against the Patriot rebels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Cartagena (1815)</span> Part of the Colombian War of Independence

The Siege of Cartagena (1815) was a successful 105-day Spanish siege by combined naval and ground forces under command of General Pablo Morillo, of the Colombian city and fortress of Cartagena de Indias, defended by Republican forces under the leadership of Manuel del Castillo y Rada and José Francisco Bermúdez, between August and December 1815.

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 Gill et al. 2010, p. 779.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Ciudad de Pampatar: Viagar Ven.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Castillo San Carlos: Vene Mia.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Brushaber 1997, p. 137.
  5. Marley 2010, p. 271.
  6. Encyclopædia Britannica 1842, p. 99.
  7. Auzias & Labourdette 2012, p. 212.
  8. Ludmer 2003, p. 288.
  9. Batalla de Matasiete: En Oriente.

Sources