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Venues: Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro |
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The fortress with the original name "The Three
Kings" was built on the cliffs called "Morro" at the
entrance to the bay and the harbor according to the plans of the Italian
military engineer Bautista Antonelli from 1589 until approximately 1610.
It protected Havana from the numerous attacks by French, Dutch and English
pirates. Armed with heavy guns, among them the battery of 12 canons
bearing the names of the 12 Apostles, it was considered to be impregnable
for about 150 years.
Not until 1762, during the Seven Years' War, when a fleet of 44 ships with
3000 canons and 14000 soldiers on board besieged the city did the Morro
finally fall as well, and that after about two months of resistance.
Under the covering fire of their ships, the English troops had approached
from a nearby hill (on which La Cabaña would later be built)
within 200 meters of the fortress and brought a gunpowder deposit to
explosion by which a breach was blasted into its walls.
One year later, the Treaty of Fontainebleau (July 6, 1763) settled the return
of Havana to Spain in exchange for Florida. Upon the withdrawal of the
English, the rebuilding of the city commenced and along with it the
Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro.
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