The fortress of San Carlos de la Cabaña was built in the 18th century in the harbor of Havana with a perfectly understandable purpose. Charles III, the Spanish monarch, began construction of the fort on the basis of the old fortification of El Morro. After work on erecting the fortress, the British administration was already in control, and they took 11 years as a whole. But the fortress was not only famous for its medieval past, but for a new history: during the Cuban revolution, rebels led by Che, the Supreme Court and massacre of Batista's supporters settled here.
El Morro with a lighthouse on a rocky promontory was erected impregnable and formidable to protect the city from the narrowest part of the strait. In the 16th and 17th centuries, it was built for more than 40 years, and in its final form the consolidation united three bastions. The firepower of the serf artillery was high enough to deter the pirates, but after a two-month siege in 1720, El Morro fell under the onslaught of the English.
After the return of Havana to the Spaniards a year later, Carlos III decided to strengthen the defensive power of El Morro by the second fort, for which was intended for La Cabaña. From Spanish fortresses at that time, it became almost the most powerful: wall thickness 12 m, own length 700 m, trench system, suspension bridge and a number of reinforced lines of defense by layers, one by one.
Like most fortresses of this kind, a prison was established in La Cabaña, which functioned not only during the Spanish rule but also after the War of Independence . This same assignment was also carried out under dictator Batista . B 1959 ., when Fidel Castro and Che Guevara landed on the island, the latter captured the fortress and set up a revolutionary headquarters here . For five months, Guevara served as the commandant of La Cabaña, including the military tribunal . In accordance with wartime laws there were treasuries there are dozens and hundreds of those who, according to insurgents, changed their country and freedom .
Today the territory of the fortresses of La Cabana and El Morro is united in a museum military park complex under the open sky . Here there is a museum-commandant's office , where several Che objects are stored, as well as the old weapons museum and others . In general the complex is well-equipped for tourists: restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops are waiting for them . And every night a cannon ceremony that was once not more than a routine procedure, reporting the closure of the entrance to the bay , is now turned into a spectacular tourist spectacle . The cannon fires at 21:00, in the bright light of the lights, after the gang of guardsmen in the parade uniform of the 18th century has solemnly escorted to it .
@ Being in La Cabaña, you can not see the famous Havana Christ, one of the brightest sights of the city and the island . This is a statue 18 m high, which is installed near the fortress walls, on a hill, at the entrance to the bay . It is interesting that sculptor, sculpted a huge figure of the Savior from Carrara marble and there was a woman, a cub of Hilma Madera . Curious and the very story of the appearance of the statue to the light: after the attempt on Batista students in 1957 . the dictator's wife gave a vow to put a statue of Christ, if her husband will live - which, in fact, happened . Anyway, and after all the dictator did not perish at that time or during the revolutionary events of 1959 ., and died of a heart attack only after 15 years .
| La Cabaña Entrance |
| Tower, La Cabaña |
| Guns, La Cabaña |
| Walls of La Cabaña |
Reviews of La Cabaña (1)
The Gunshot Shot Ceremony October 14, 2014
Of course, in comparison with European fortresses, this fortress, probably, will not make a huge impression. But I liked it. Well preserved. Clean, neat. On the territory there is a museum of the ancient ... Read the whole review