Castillo San Felipe del Morro, commonly called El Morro, guards the entrance to San Juan Bay on the northwestern point of the islet of Old San Juan in Puerto Rico, begun by Spanish military engineers in 1539 to protect the harbor from naval attack. Built up over more than two centuries into a six-level complex of thick masonry walls, gun batteries and a lighthouse, its layered design let defenders fire on approaching ships from multiple elevations at once, and it withstood attacks by English and Dutch forces in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The fort's walls in places reach roughly twenty feet thick, built from sandstone and coral rock quarried nearby. It forms part of the San Juan National Historic Site and, together with the adjoining city fortifications, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.
Facts
Building Type LocationOld San Juan, Puerto Rico 1 Partially Attested
Completed YearSource says the fort was developed over centuries and reached its current form in 1787; construction began in 1539. Classification
Standing Status Building Type
Building Type (category) Connections
Has Building Type
In Style
Source Castillo San Felipe del Morro, Wikipedia
Uses Element
Source Castillo San Felipe del Morro, Wikipedia
Source Castillo San Felipe del Morro, Wikipedia
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Source Castillo San Felipe del Morro, Wikipedia
Sources
1. Castillo San Felipe del Morro, Wikipedia
Opening paragraph
a large fortress and citadel in the Old San Juan historic quarter of San Juan, the capital city and municipality of Puerto Rico.
Infobox: location
San Juan Islet, Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
Structure for deployment section
El Morro continued to be developed to reach its current form in 1787.
General information section, height
Rising 43 metres (140 ft) from the Atlantic shoreline
Entity description and the lead/infobox of the Wikipedia article
Castillo San Felipe del Morro (English: Promontory Castle of Saint Philip), most commonly known as El Morro (The Promontory), is a large fortress and citadel in the Old San Juan historic quarter of San Juan, the capital city and municipality of Puerto Rico. 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 Char
- Uses Element: Sandstone, infobox material field: Sandstone, Brick, Sand, Clay
- Uses Element: Brick, Infobox material field: Sandstone, Brick, Sand, Clay
In Style: Spanish Colonial Architecture, Development
The fortification, also referred to as el Morro or 'the promontory,' was designed to guard the entrance to the San Juan Bay, and defend the Spanish colonial port city of San Juan from seaborne enemies.
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