Mexico · 17th century
Fort San Carlos, Campeche ranks #8,826 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #9 of the 10 mapped in Mexico. Founded 1676, it is older than 23% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 710 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Mexico compares in the castle statistics.
The Baluarte de San Carlos is located in the city of San Francisco de Campeche, Campeche, Mexico. It has its beginnings in the 17th century; this bastion was dedicated to King Charles II of Spain, and in the year 1676 it was inaugurated by the governor Pedro Fernández de Angulo. It has a pentagonal form, its area is 840 metres, and today it is the only one reached by way of a modified ramp that leads from the street to the first level; its sturdy doors were made of wood, and they invite one to tour the building. This bastion has a cistern and, in the lower part, the basement, where there is a vault known as "El Pulguero", which served to confine prisoners; from it countless stories of tunnels and secret passages have arisen.
The second level has a terrace holding two powerful cannons and a bell tower in one of its corners; it currently houses the Museum of the City.
In times past this architecture was used as a guard post. Today it holds the city's title, granted on 1 October 1777 by King Charles III of Spain, and also the keys to the city, as well as a splendid museum display describing the evolution of the city through the centuries.
The bastion has inside it furniture, weapons, sculptures and replicas of plans and parts of its history; in one room is the sculpture of the india mosquito, and from the upper part one can see "La Puerta de Mar" and "El Baluarte de la Soledad".
Machine-translated from “Baluarte de San Carlos” on the Spanish Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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