FORTALEZA SANTA TERESA

The fortress of Santa Teresa is located in the park near Route 9. This area was a coveted area for the two great Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the ^18th century, and could be controlled by building a fort on this small mountain with a good view. Colonel T. de Osorio had some earthen buildings erected in 1762, but they did not stand up to the Spanish ardor. From 1762 to 1775, three more fortifications were built. It was a French engineer, captured by the Spanish or Portuguese, who initiated the architecture of the present fort, which was completed in 1791. Over time, it was the scene of various conflicts until the civil wars of the ^19th century. In 1777, the Treaty of San Ildefonso confirmed the Spanish possession of Santa Teresa and San Miguel. The perimeter of this fortress measures 652 meters. Its walls have an irregular shape and its five corners end in protruding bastions, making it impossible to climb the walls. The walls are gigantic, carved out of huge blocks of granite, and are 11.5 meters high in some places. The fortress has 41 cannon ports and 5 gatehouses. Nowadays, you can visit a museum, open from 9 am to 5 pm, which reconstructs the life of the fort and presents different collections of old weapons, crests and other strange and traditional objects of the time. Last but not least, a series of models of the different forts existing in Uruguay.