Antonio De Arévalo, a Spanish engineer, conceived plans to build a fortress around the city of Cartagena. Named Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas, or the Fortress of San Felipe, it was the most extensive fortification in South America.
Construction, using African slave labor, commenced in 1639 with the erection of rudimentary barricades composed of a variety of materials available at the time. As a military undertaking, the Fortress of San Felipe was designed such that if one section of the fortress fell to invaders, the defenders could continue to protect the city from an adjacent section.
In 1697 the fortress was put to the test when the Baron of Pointis, under orders from the King of France, armed with 4,000 mercenaries from Cuba and the Dominican Republic, and insider information on the layout of the fortress, attacked the city. After several successful skirmishes on the part of the French, the Governor of Cartagena, Don Diego de los Rios y Quesada, negotiated a settlement whereby he and his citizens would be allowed to leave Cartagena with some of their wealth. Those citizens who elected to remain at Cartagena came under French rule. However, an outbreak of Black Fever soon forced the French to retreat. The accompanying mercenaries, who were immune to the disease, left soon thereafter, after having robbed the city of its remaining wealth.
The Fortress of San Felipe is considered one of the most formidable defensive structures ever built by the Spanish military. Constructed around the perimeter of Cartagena, it stands on the Hill of San Lazaro, overlooking the Caribbean Sea and the Vista of Cartagena.
The fortress walls, initially constructed of miscellaneous materials available during the seventeenth century, were rebuilt from red brick, stone and concrete in the eighteenth century. Designed to repel attacks from inland, the walls are approximately 90 feet high and are accented by numerous sentry boxes. The statue of Don Blas de Lezo, the Commander who defeated the British during the invasion of 1740, stands proudly at the front of the fortress.
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