Castillo San Felipe del Morro ( English: Promontory Castle of Saint Philip), most commonly known as ''El Morro'' (The Promontory), is a large

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

and

citadel A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of ''city'', meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. ...

in the

Old San Juan Old San Juan () is a historic district located at the "northwest triangle" of the San Juan Islet, islet of San Juan in San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan. Its area roughly correlates to the Ballajá, Old San Juan, Ballajá, Catedral, Old San Juan, ...

historic quarter of

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

, the capital

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. Commissioned by King Charles I of Spain in 1539, it was first built as a fortified tower in honor of King Philip II, who oversaw its expansion into a hornwork bastion fort by 1595. Over the next 200 years, especially in the reign of

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

, ''El Morro'' continued to be developed to reach its current form in 1787. Rising from the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

shoreline with thick walls, the six-leveled edifice stands on a steep, rocky

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Jo ...

promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the s ...

San Juan Islet San Juan Islet ( Spanish: ''Isleta de San Juan'') is a islet or small island on San Juan Bay in the Atlantic coast of northern Puerto Rico. Home to Old San Juan, it is the site of the oldest permanent European settlement in Puerto Rico (1521), ...

guarding the entry to

San Juan Bay San Juan Bay () is a Bay#Types, semi-enclosed bay, estuary, and harbor connected to the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the northeastern coastal plain of Puerto Rico. Surrounded by the capital Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality o ...

, the harbor of

. ''El Morro'', alongside

La Fortaleza La Fortaleza ( English: "the fortress"), also known as the ''Palacio de Santa Catalina'' (Saint Catherine's Palace), is the official residence and workplace of the governor of Puerto Rico. Located in the historic quarter of Old San Juan in the ...

, San Cristóbal,

El Cañuelo EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

, and other forts part of the Walls of Old San Juan, protected strategically and militarily important

, or ''La Llave de las Indias'' (The Key to the

Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found i ...

), from invasion by competing world powers during the

Age of Sail The Age of Sail is a period in European history that lasted at the latest from the mid-16th (or mid-15th) to the mid-19th centuries, in which the dominance of sailing ships in global trade and warfare culminated, particularly marked by the int ...

. It was designated a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

in 1983.

Development

Lying on the northwesternmost point of the islet of

, Castillo San Felipe del Morro is named in honor of King

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

. The fortification, also referred to as ''el Morro'' or 'the

,' was designed to guard the entrance to the

, and defend the Spanish colonial port city of San Juan from seaborne enemies. In 1983, the citadel was declared a

by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

in conjunction with the San Juan National Historic Site. Over two million visitors a year explore the ''castillo'', making it one of Puerto Rico's leading tourist attractions. Facing the structure, on the opposite side of the bay, a smaller fortification known as ''

'' complemented the castillo's defense of the entrance to the bay.

Structure for deployment

The construction of the citadel and its surrounding walls began in 1539 on orders of King

Charles V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise Others * Charles V, Duke ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The original fortress was built under the direction of conquistador Diego Ramos de Orozco and its main purpose was to defend the port of

by controlling the entry to its harbor. In order to have a viable defense while the rest of the fort was being completed, a small proto-fortress was erected during the first year of construction. It is estimated that this section comprises about 10% of the whole structure. It was not till 1587, however, that Field Marshal Juan de Tejeda and the Italian engineer-architect Bautista Antonelli drew the fort's final design. The plan, which was based on the then firmly established Spanish military fortification principles of the time, included fortifying nine other sites in the

Spanish Main During the Spanish colonization of the Americas, the Spanish Main was the collective term used by English speakers for the parts of the Spanish Empire that were on the mainland of the Americas and had coastlines on the Caribbean Sea or Gulf of ...

and

Spanish West Indies The Spanish West Indies, Spanish Caribbean or the Spanish Antilles (also known as "Las Antillas Occidentales" or simply "Las Antillas Españolas" in Spanish) were Spanish territories in the Caribbean. In terms of governance of the Spanish Empir ...

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

Santa Marta Santa Marta (), officially the Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta (), is a port List of cities in Colombia, city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena Department and the fou ...

, Cartagena, Nombre de Dios, Portobelo, the

Chagres River The Chagres River (), in central Panama, is the largest river in the Panama Canal's drainage basin. The river is dammed twice, and the resulting reservoirs—Gatun Lake and Lake Alajuela—form an integral part of the canal and its water ...

Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.St. Augustine. San Juan construction began in March 1589 with skilled artisans, 12 stonecutters, 18 masons, 2 smiths, a cooper, metal founder, and an overseer assigned to the task, with the help of 150 slaves. Captain General Diego Menéndez de Valdés, who was the governor of Puerto Rico, took over construction after Tejeda and Antonelli left to start construction of Santo Domingo's fortifications. Capt. Pedro de Salazar took over construction in 1591. The new fortifications consisted of a hornwork, crossing the

, to protect the landward side of the existing tower and water battery. Two half-

bastion A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...

s, one on the Atlantic side called "Tejeda", and another on the harbor side called "Austria", were connected by a curtain wall fronted by a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

, and spanned by a

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable b ...

in the center. The gate and drawbridge were protected by a

ravelin A ravelin is a triangular fortification or detached outwork, located in front of the innerworks of a fortress (the curtain walls and bastions). Originally called a ''demi-lune'', after the ''lunette'', the ravelin is placed outside a castle a ...

, and just inside the gate was a guardhouse. A pair of batteries behind the hornwork overlooked the sea and harbor. In 1634, construction of the city walls surrounding San Juan began. By 1650, the town was enclosed on the east, south and west, while natural

battlement A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals ...

s protected the city along the Atlantic. In 1765, Alejandro O'Reilly, Inspector General of Cuba, and Colonel Tomás O'Daly, San Juan Chief of Engineers, agreed on a plan to strengthen San Juan's defenses, which was approved by

Charles III of Spain Charles III (; 20 January 1716 – 14 December 1788) was King of Spain in the years 1759 to 1788. He was also Duke of Parma and Piacenza, as Charles I (1731–1735); King of Naples, as Charles VII; and King of Sicily, as Charles III (or V) (1735� ...

. San Juan became a Defense of the First Order, and one of the most powerful plazas in the Americas by 1790. El Morro's improvements included 3

cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

s under the main plaza containing of water collected from times of rain. The walls were strengthened to be thick. These walls consisted of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

blocks forming the exterior and interior, with

rubble Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture; undressed especially as a filling-in. Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as 'brash' (compare cornbrash)."Rubble" def. 2., "Brash n. 2. def. 1. ''Oxford English Dictionar ...

sandwiched in between. The Santa Bárbara battery became the main battery with 37 cannon, supported by

casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armoured structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" ...

guns at a lower level, and backed by a great wall with casemates at a higher level. The top of the Castillo de San Felipe del Morro Lighthouse was destroyed during the 1898 bombardment of the city by the United States, and the American flag replaced the Spanish on 18 November 1898. Lighthouse_Castillo_San_Felipe_del_Morro_SJU_06_2019_6697

Lighthouse_Castillo_San_Felipe_del_Morro_SJU_06_2019_6697

History

Spanish Rule (1539–1898)

Upon the advice of

Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés (August 1478 – 1557), commonly known as Oviedo, was a Spanish soldier, historian, writer, botanist and colonist. Oviedo participated in the Spanish colonization of the West Indies, arriving in the first fe ...

, a battery was constructed on the rocky promontory called "the Morro", when the location of

was deemed unsuitable. This battery consisted of a tower with 4

embrasure An embrasure (or crenel or crenelle; sometimes called gunhole in the domain of Age of Gunpowder, gunpowder-era architecture) is the opening in a battlement between two raised solid portions (merlons). Alternatively, an embrasure can be a sp ...

s, and a Water Battery at the foot of the slope for 3 guns. By 1555, Morro had 8 bronze cannons, as a defense against French

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

s. During the Spanish government of the island, El Morro, also known as Castillo de San Felipe, survived several attacks from foreign powers on various occasions. In 1593 Portuguese soldiers, sent from Lisbon by order of Phillip II, composed the first garrison of the San Felipe del Morro fortress in Puerto Rico. Some brought their wives, while others married Puerto Rican women, and today there are many Puerto Rican families with Portuguese last names. In 1595, Englishman Sir

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

unsuccessfully attacked

with his fleet in the Battle of San Juan (1595). In 1598, the English attacked again, led by George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland. Clifford succeeded because he attacked San Juan over land instead of trying to enter through the San Juan Bay. However, an epidemic of

dysentery Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...

forced him to flee the island after the

Battle of San Juan (1598) The Battle of San Juan was a military and naval action on June 15, 1598 when an English force of 20 ships and 1,700 men under Sir George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, overwhelmed and took the Spanish fortress Castillo San Felipe del Morro and t ...

In 1625, the Dutch, led by Boudewijn Hendricksz, also attacked the island emulating George Clifford's overland invasion. To the amazement of the citizens, the invaders were able to pass in front of the castle's defenders and into the harbor, out of reach of the city's cannons. El Morro managed to resist the siege and eventually made the Dutch retire, although the attackers were able to sack and burn the city before leaving the Battle of San Juan (1625). In 1797, British General Ralph Abercromby and Admiral Henry Harvey, with a force of 7,000–13,000 men, invaded the island of Puerto Rico. Captain General Don Ramón de Castro and his forces repelled the attack. Abercromby and Harvey were defeated in the

Battle of San Juan (1797) __NOTOC__ The Battle of San Juan was an ill-fated British assault in 1797 on the Spanish colonial port city of San Juan in Puerto Rico during the 1796–1808 Anglo-Spanish War. The attack was carried out facing the historic town of Miramar. ...

. El Morro's last active fight occurred during a naval bombardment by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during the 1898

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

, ending the age of naval warfare in the Caribbean, at least in the classical sense. During the Spanish–American War, the castle was attacked at least three times by American naval forces, the largest being the

Bombardment of San Juan The Bombardment of San Juan, or the First Battle of San Juan, on 12 May 1898 was an engagement between United States Navy warships and the Spain, Spanish fortifications of San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was the first major ac ...

on May 12, 1898. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, in which Spain ceded ownership of the islands of

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, Guam, and the Philippines to the United States.

American military occupation (1898–1961)

El Morro and many other Spanish government buildings in Old San Juan became part of a large U.S. Army post, called

Fort Brooke Fort Brooke was a historical military post established at the mouth of the Hillsborough River (Florida), Hillsborough River in present-day Tampa, Florida in 1824. Its original purpose was to serve as a check on and trading post for the native S ...

. In the early 20th century, the U.S. military filled up the

esplanade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cle ...

(the green space in front of "El Morro") with baseball diamonds, hospitals, officers' quarters, an officers' club and even a

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

course. On March 21, 1915, Lt. Teófilo Marxuach was the officer of the day at the El Morro fortress. The

Hamburg America Line The Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG), known in English as the Hamburg America Line, was a transatlantic shipping enterprise established in Hamburg, in 1847. Among those involved in its development were prominent Germ ...

cargo liner A cargo liner, also known as a passenger-cargo ship or passenger-cargoman, is a type of merchant ship which carries general cargo and often passengers. They became common just after the middle of the 19th century, and eventually gave way to conta ...

Odenwald The Odenwald () is a low mountain range in the Germany, German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Location The Odenwald is located between the Upper Rhine Plain with the Bergstraße Route, Bergstraße and the ''Hessisches Ried' ...

'' tried to leave port without permission from the Customs Collector. Lt. Marxuach gave the order to open fire on her, which forced her to stop. The shots ordered by Lt. Marxuach are widely regarded to be the first shots fired by the United States in World War I, although the first actual wartime shot fired by the US came on the day war was declared, during the scuttling of SMS ''Cormoran'' off

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

. During World War II the United States Army added a massive concrete bunker to the top of El Morro to serve as a Harbor Defense Fire Control Station to direct a network of coastal artillery sites, and to keep watch for German submarines which were ravaging shipping in the Caribbean. A lighthouse, rebuilt by the U.S. Army in 1906–08 is the tallest point on El Morro, standing above sea level. Flagpoles on El Morro today customarily fly the

United States flag The national flag of the United States, often referred to as the American flag or the U.S. flag, consists of thirteen horizontal Bar (heraldry), stripes, Variation of the field, alternating red and white, with a blue rectangle in the Canton ( ...

, the Puerto Rican flag and the

Cross of Burgundy The Cross of Burgundy (; ; ; ; ; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Cruz de Borgonha'') is a saw-toothed (wiktionary:raguly, raguly) form of the Saltire, Cross of Saint Andrew, the patron saint of Burgundy, and a historical banner and battle fla ...

flag, also known in Spanish as las Aspas de Borgoña, a standard which was widely used by Spanish armies around the world from 1506 to 1785.

National Park (1961–present)

In 1961, the United States Army officially retired from El Morro. The fort became a part of the National Park Service to be preserved as museums. In 1983, the Castillo and the city walls were declared a

by the

. In honor of the Quincentennial of the voyages of Columbus in 1992 the exterior esplanade was cleared of palm trees that had been planted by the U.S. Army in the Fort Brooke era, and restored to the open appearance this "field-of-fire" for El Morro's cannon would have had in colonial Spanish times. Parking lots and paved roads were also removed, and the El Morro lighthouse repaired and restored to its original appearance. The 1963 film Thunder Island featured an extensive foot chase and shootout scene filmed at El Morro. El Morro was also used as a film set in the 1996 motion picture '' Amistad''.

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

used it to represent a fort in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

where African slaves were auctioned in 1839. African slave labor was used in addition to local labor to help build the castillo. El Morro was a defensive military fortification and a major component of San Juan's harbor defense system. Puerto Rico as such was considered by the Spanish crown as the "Key to the Antilles"; no enemy ship could navigate its waters without fear of capture. An annual artisans festival is held at the fort every July. The fort is home to a resident colony of around 200 stray cats that are believed to have been descended from cats introduced either during colonial times or in the mid-20th century as part of rat eradication programs. Following concerns over an increase in their population, in 2023 the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

announced it would contract an animal welfare organization to remove the cats and threatened to hire a pest control agency if it were to fail. However, the plan was suspended following a lawsuit by animal welfare groups in 2024.

Historical timeline

*1508 – Spanish colonized the area *1509 – Spanish settlers from Caparra found San Juan. *1539 – Construction of the first harbor defenses at El Morro and

authorized by King

. *1587 – Engineers Juan de Tejada and Bautista Antonelli lay out the main design for El Morro still seen today. *1589 – Governor Diego Menéndez de Valdés begins new construction at El Morro. *1595 – Sir

attacks El Morro unsuccessfully by sea. Gunners from El Morro shoot a cannonball through the cabin of Drake's flagship. To impede Drake's ships from entering the bay, a metal chain was drawn across the entrance. Drake was defeated and many of his ships sunk. *1598 – George Clifford, Duke of Cumberland, attacks from the land side in June of this year, the only time El Morro was taken in battle. English forces move into the fortress, however weakened by

they leave in November. *1625 – The Dutch under the command of Captain Balduino Enrico (also known as Boudewijn Hendricksz/Bowdoin Henrick) attacked and invaded San Juan from the "La Puntilla". El Morro held out under the leadership of Spanish Governor De Haro and Captain Juan de Amézqueta of the Puerto Rican militia, but the city was sacked and burned. *1630 – Governor Enrique Enríquez de Sotomayor begins construction of the city walls. Work continues until 1678 to encircle the city completely. *1765 – After the siege of Havana in 1762 by the British, King Charles III appoints Field Marshal Alejandro O'Reilly (Alexander O'Reilly) and Royal Engineer Tomás O'Daly (Thomas O'Daly) to reform San Juan's fortifications and reorganize the garrison to make the city a "Defense of the First Order". *1787 – An

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

damages the structure of both San Felipe del Morro and San Cristóbal. *1797 – General

Ralph Abercromby Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby, (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British Army officer, politician and colonial administrator who served as the governor of Trinidad in 1797. Rising to the rank ...

and Admiral Henry Harvey, with a force of 7,000–13,000 men, invaded the island of Puerto Rico. Captain General Don Ramón de Castro and his forces repelled the attack. Abercromby and Harvey were defeated. This was to be one of the largest invasions to Spanish territories in the Americas. *1825 – Well known Puerto Rican

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

, Roberto Cofresí was jailed and later executed within the fort's walls. *1843 – First

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

in Puerto Rico constructed atop the castle. *1898 – On 12 May, US Navy warships

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

El Morro in a day-long bombardment, damaging the tip of the main battery. Six months later, Puerto Rico becomes U.S. territory by terms of the Treaty of Paris which ends the

. *1899 – The Department of the Navy rebuilds the lighthouse tower as an octagonal reinforced concrete structure using the iron structure as reinforcement. A new lenticular lens is installed. By 1906 a crack, through and around the top of the tower, directly under the lantern requires its demolition. *1908 – Present lighthouse seen atop El Morro built by the

. *1915 – First shots of World War I fired by Lt. Teófilo Marxuach on behalf of the United States. Marxuach, a native of

Arroyo, Puerto Rico Arroyo () is a Arroyo barrio-pueblo, town and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality located along the southern coast of Puerto Rico and bordered by the Caribbean Sea, east of the municipality of Guayama, Puerto Rico, Guayama and northwest o ...

, fired what is considered to be the first shot of World War I fired by the regular armed forces of the United States against any ship flying the colors of the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...

."US Naval Institute Proceedings"; "A Breach of Neutrality"; by: Lt. Isaiah Olch, US Navy; Vol. 62; July – December 1936 Marxuach, who was a member of the "Porto Rico Regiment of Infantry" and Officer of the Day, on 25 March 1915, opened fire on the ''Odenwald'', an unarmed German

merchant ship A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are ...

, as it was trying leave San Juan bay without permission. *1942 – El Morro was still an active military post during World War II. The US Army added concrete artillery observation posts and an underground bunker to El Morro to defend against possible German attacks. *1949 – San Juan National Historic Site is established. *1961 – The U.S. Army moves out of the forts of Old San Juan, and they become the jurisdiction of the United States

, to be preserved solely as museums. *1971 – Featured in the ''Mission: Impossible'' episode "The Field" (season 5th, episode 17th). *1983 – San Juan National Historic Site declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations. *1992 – El Morro's grounds are returned to their historic 18th-century appearance as part of quincentennial commemoration of the discovery of Puerto Rico by

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

when modern roadways and parking lots are removed. El Morro now generates tourism revenue by being open to tours. Also in 1992, '' Plaza del Quinto Centenario'' is built across Castillo San Felipe del Morro. *2017 – Puerto Rico was struck by

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was an extremely powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that affected the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which accounted for 2,975 of the 3,059 deaths. It is the ...

on September 20, 2017 devastating the infrastructure of the island as well as the tourism industry. Tourism to the Castle of San Felipe or had recovered by the summer of 2019.

Gallery

File:FortElMorro SanJuan PuertoRico.jpg, Bird's-eye view of the castle from San Juan Bay File:View of Castillo San Felipe del Morro.jpg, View of the castle from the north File:San Juan, castillo del Morro 14.jpg, Garita (Sentry Box) File:Castillo de San Felipe del Morro (fort San Felipe) (5421532870).jpg, Exhibition inside the castle File:Castillo San Felipe del Morro3.jpg, Entrance view of castle at dusk from esplanade File:2009 PR Proof.png, U.S. commemorative quarter, featuring Sentry Box File:Garita morro s.jpg, Sentry box at Castillo San Felipe del Morro File:Castillo de San Felipe del Morro, Northwest end of San Juan, San Juan, San Juan Municipio, PR HABS PR,7-SAJU,6-79.tif, Main gate in 1933. File:Castillo de San Felipe del Morro, Northwest end of San Juan, San Juan, San Juan Municipio, PR HABS PR,7-SAJU,6-102.tif, Lighthouse in a photo in 1933. File:Castillo de San Felipe del Morro, Northwest end of San Juan, San Juan, San Juan Municipio, PR HABS PR,7-SAJU,6-91.tif, Photo of 1933 File:View up main ramp from Santa Barbara Bastion - Castillo de San Felipe del Morro, Northwest end of San Juan, San Juan, San Juan Municipio, PR HABS PR,7-SAJU,6-27.tif, Main ramp from Santa Barbara Bastion in 1933. File:Castillo de San Felipe del Morro, Northwest end of San Juan, San Juan, San Juan Municipio, PR HABS PR,7-SAJU,6-89.tif, photo of 1933. File:Castillo de San Felipe del Morro, Northwest end of San Juan, San Juan, San Juan Municipio, PR HABS PR,7-SAJU,6-113.tif, Photo of 1933 File:Castillo de San Felipe del Morro, Northwest end of San Juan, San Juan, San Juan Municipio, PR HABS PR,7-SAJU,6-5.tif, Photo of 1933. File:Castillo de San Felipe del Morro, Northwest end of San Juan, San Juan, San Juan Municipio, PR HABS PR,7-SAJU,6-107.tif, Photo of 1933. File:Historic American Buildings Survey, Frederik C. Gjessing, Photographer January, 1956 ELEVATION OF CHAPEL AND SALLY PORT TOWARDS THE COURTYARD PLAZA DE ARMAS, SAN FELIPE DEL MORRO. HABS PR,7-SAJU,13-2.tif, Chapel of the courtyard of the castle in 1933. File:Castillo de San Felipe del Morro, Lighthouse, Northwest corner of San Juan, San Juan, San Juan Municipio, PR HABS PR,7-SAJU,6A- (sheet 5 of 5).png, Architectural drawings of the Lighthouse produced in the HABS San Juan, Puerto Rico field office File:Castillo San Felipe del Morro Bell, 1969.png, Bell, 1969

References

External links

*
Photo Gallery
* ttp://home.coqui.net/sarrasin/defensa.sanjuan.htm Las defensas de San Juan 1898, Compilation by Luis M. Iriarte Rota {{NRHP in San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan National Historic Site 16th-century establishments in Puerto Rico Spanish Colonial architecture in Puerto Rico Citadels Castles in North America 1589 establishments in the Spanish Empire Historic district contributing properties in Puerto Rico Military facilities in Puerto Rico Forts in Puerto Rico