CASTILLO DE LOS TRES REYES DEL MORRO
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The Castillo owes its name to an altarpiece depicting the Adoration of the Magi that once stood in its chapel (since disappeared), as well as to its location, on a hill(el morro), on a rocky reef overlooking the sea. Morro Castle has become one of Havana's symbols, due to its architecture and the presence of the lighthouse at the entrance to the bay. It is the most powerful defensive complex built by the Spanish in America. As Havana soon became the port of call for galleons loaded with gold and silver from the New World, it had to defend itself against attacks from privateers, pirates and other sea scum, as well as from nations hostile to Spain (England in particular). The protection provided by the Castillo de la Real Fuerza (Castle of the Royal Force) having been deemed insufficient, Philip II endowed the city with another defensive work, which he entrusted to the Italian architect Juan Bautista Antonelli. The Morro fortress, intended as a replica of a Lisbon fortress, was begun in 1589 and completed in 1630. Badly damaged when the city was conquered by the English in 1762, it was rebuilt in 1763. From 1764, its tower served as a lighthouse. It was at this time that the Morro was assisted in its mission of defending the eastern shore of the bay by a new neighboring fortress (the Cabaña), whose foundation stone was laid in 1763.
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To get there, it is better to go there by taxi. The entrance fee CUC 6. Quick visit.
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La visite n est obligatoire