Fortaleza Ozama

The Ozama Fortress (Spanish: Fortaleza Ozama), also formerly known as the city wall's Homage tower, is one of the surviving sections of the Walls of Santo Domingo, which is recognized by UNESCO as being the oldest military construction of European origin in the Americas. It was built between 1502–1508 by the Spanish at the entrance to Santo Domingo's Ciudad Colonial, Dominican Republic, and overlooking the Ozama River. Named after this river, the fortress, also is referred to as "La Fortaleza" or "The Fortress". It was declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, together with the other historical monuments of the Ciudad Colonial.

The Ozama Fortress is part of the Colonial City of Santo Domingo. According to historians and architects, the construction of this monument lasted from 1502 to 1508, which was started by Governor Nicolás Ovando. During the 16th century, the 18-meter high tower was the highest European-built construction of the Americas.

The construction of this fortress is designed in the form of a stone castle and still preserves its original architecture. Inside the fortress there are tunnels and dungeons where the prisoners were locked up, Christopher Columbus himself, one of the most important figures in the history of the Americas, was imprisoned in the fortress.

In 1938, the riverside of the Ozama fortress was enclosed by a tall, thin, gray, reinforced concrete wall, equipped with parapets and bartizans to look like a colonial fortification, as part of the modernization of the Port of Santo Domingo under the leadership of Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo.

Text adapted from “Fortaleza Ozama” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Fortaleza Ozama ranks #1,064 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #1 of the 2 mapped in Dominican Republic. Founded 1502, it is older than 45% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 718 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 3,374 times in the last 60 days, more than 78% of the atlas. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Dominican Republic compares in the castle statistics.

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