Santa Cruz Fort is one of the three forts in Oran, the second largest port city of

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; the other two forts are Fort de la Moune at the western end of the port and Fort Saint-Philippe, a replacement of the old castle of the Saints known in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

as Castillo de los Santos, at the centre of Oran. The three forts are connected by tunnels. Fort Santa Cruz was built between 1577 and 1604 by the

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both in ...

on the Pic d’Aidour above Gulf of Oran in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

, at an elevation of above . In 1831, the French occupied Oran and the fort. A small chapel, known as the Chapel of Santa Cruz, stands close to the fort. This chapel has been refurbished with a tower, which has a huge statue of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

, said to be a replica of that at

Notre-Dame de la Garde Notre-Dame de la Garde (literally: Our Lady of the Guard), known to local citizens as ''la Bonne Mère'' (French for 'the Good Mother'), is a Catholic basilica in Marseille, France, and the city's best-known symbol. The site of a popular Assump ...

in Marseilles, styled as Notre-Dame du Salut de Santa Cruz.

Geography

The fort is located at a height of about on , also known as Pic d’Aidour, from where there are views of Mers-el-Kebir, the strategic military port of Oran. Beneath the castle, on the hill slope, is the chapel of the Blessed Virgin, which is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

pilgrimage site.

History

The Ottomans built the first fort on the site. After the Spaniards defeated the Ottomans in the sixteenth Century, they rebuilt Fort Santa Cruz. The Spaniards ruled Oran for about 300 years till 1792. In the past, the fortress of Santa Cruz accommodated the Oran city governors. The fort city under Spanish rule continued to grow, requiring enlargement of the city walls. In spite of the improved fortifications, the city was the object of repeated attacks. Notable in this regard was when Moroccan Sharif Moulay Ismail tried to force his way past the defenses in 1707, only to see his army decimated. Oran was also hit by an earthquake in 1791, when most of the city was damaged and the Spanish who had ruled from 1509 evacuated. The French then occupied the city in 1831. Santacruz was the highest of the three forts erected by the Spanish above the town of Oran which was a dominantly Muslim town with buildings of mostly

Moorish architecture Moorish architecture is a style within Islamic architecture which developed in the western Islamic world, including al-Andalus (on the Iberian peninsula) and what is now Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia (part of the Maghreb). The term "Moorish" com ...

. To show their dominance of "Crescent above the Cross", the local people built the Marabut chapel, opposite to the fort at a higher elevation. This chapel was crowned with a

crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hinduism, Lord Shiva is often shown wearing a crescent moon on his ...

on a white

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, fro ...

. Spaniards held on here till 1792, after the 1791 earthquake. When the French occupied, the Muslims all migrated into the interior parts of Algeria but many returned later after Abd–el-Khader was defeated.

Architecture

The fort, built between 1577 and 1604, The fortifications of the place were composed of thick and continuous walls of over two and a half kilometers in circumference, surmounted by strong towers spaced between them, with a central castle or

kasbah A kasbah (, also ; ar, قَـصَـبَـة, qaṣaba, lit=fortress, , Maghrebi Arabic: ), 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 ''alca ...

where the Spanish governor established his headquarters. The fort was built with iron, wood, sand, lime and water carried up the hill through winding and difficult paths. It was expanded repeatedly to strengthen the fortifications, the galleries passing underneath the town mounting and descending the various hills. It has a rainwater storage harvesting system, with the largest tank having a capacity of 300,000 liters.

Santa Cruz chapel

The Santa Cruz Chapel was built by the Bishop of Oran at the place where he had carried the statue of the

in a procession, followed by the people of the city, to the Oran hill, when a cholera

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics of infectious ...

had affected the people of Oran, in 1847. They sought blessings from the Virgin Mary to protect the city from the epidemic. The entire population implored the Blessed Virgin to bless the place with rain. After the rain came, the town of Oran and the region were saved from the epidemic of cholera. As a tribute to this miracle, a chapel was built on the hill at the foot of the fort of Santa Cruz. This chapel is named the Santa Cruz Church. It was considered as being the Protector of the town. In commemoration of this event, every year until Algeria became independent in 1962, Ascension Day was observed when the people of Oran and the surrounding areas paid homage to the Virgin Mary by climbing up the mountain trail to the chapel as a pilgrimage.

Gallery

File:Oran fort santa cruz ON067.jpg, Aerial view of the fort and the chapel in 1942. File:Fort de Santa-Cruz Oran وهران - panoramio.jpg, Ramparts of the Fort of Santa Cruz. File:Algérie - Oranie - 42.jpg, Northern front of the fort. File:Oran Santa Cruz.JPG, Fort of Santa Cruz and the whitewashed Notre-Dame de Santa Cruz church in Oran. File:Le fort Santa Cruz dominant la ville d'Oran.jpg, Fort Santa Cruz dominating the city of Oran.

External links

References

{{Reflist, 33em Buildings and structures completed in 903 Buildings and structures completed in 1604 Buildings and structures in Oran Province Buildings and structures of the Ottoman Empire Mediterranean port cities and towns in Algeria Former Spanish colonies Populated coastal places in Algeria Port cities of the Mediterranean Sea Forts in Algeria 1604 establishments in the Spanish Empire Tourist attractions in Oran Province 10th-century establishments in Africa