Picture of Fortress of San Felipe seen from below (Cartagena de Indias, Colombia)

Fortress of San Felipe on top of the defensive structure

Send image of Fortress of San Felipe seen from below as a free postcard
Download picture of Fortress of San Felipe seen from below
Purchase Fortress of San Felipe seen from below (Colombia)

The biggest fortress the Spanish ever built in their colonies, the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas was never conquered. It still overlooks the old city and the surroundings.
Cartagena de Indias was founded in 1533 by the Spanish conqueror Pedro de Heredia, who actually built it at the location of an existing settlement of the indigenous Carib Indians. It soon acquired importance as the main gateway for Spain into South America, and it became the warehouse of the Spanish treasures taken from the newly discovered territories. Not surprisingly, Cartagena became a prime target for pirates, and in order to defend it against attackers, the city was turned into a fortress, surrounded by a defensive wall. The Spanish also decided to build a real fortress, which was cleverly constructed to make it difficult to attack and impossible to conquer. Initially based on a design of the Dutch engineer Ricardo, the fortress was ultimately finished by Antonio de Arévalo. The design worked.
Read more about: Castillo San Felipe de Barajas

Tags for this picture:
| | | |

blue silver Cartagena de Indias Madaba Castillo San Felipe de Barajas María La Gorda castle windmill Central&South America Europe Colombia Portugal grey gold red green tower modern wall roman

Around the World in 80 Clicks - All rights reserved - www.traveladventures.org - 1999-2009 Share your comments