Picture of Close-up of the belfry of the Castillo San Felipe (Cartagena de Indias, Colombia)

Detail of the belfry of the fortress

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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.
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