Algeria · 16th century
Fort of Santa Cruz is a fort in Oran, the second largest port city of Algeria. It is one of Oran's three forts; the other two forts are Fort de la Moune at the western end of the port and Fort Saint-Philippe, a replacement of the old castle of the Saints known in Spanish as Castillo de los Santos, at the centre of Oran. The three forts are connected by tunnels. Fort of Santa Cruz was built between 1577 and 1604 by the Spaniards on the Pic d'Aidour above Gulf of Oran in the Mediterranean Sea, at an elevation of above 400 metres (1,312 ft). In 1831, the French occupied Oran and the fort.
A small chapel, known as the Chapel of Santa Cruz, stands close to the fort. This chapel has been refurbished with a tower, which has a huge statue of the Virgin Mary, said to be a replica of that at Notre-Dame de la Garde in Marseille, styled as Notre-Dame du Salut de Santa Cruz.
Text adapted from “Fort of Santa Cruz (Oran)” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Santa Cruz Fort ranks #1,752 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #4 of the 24 mapped in Algeria. Founded 1577, it is older than 34% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 891 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 4,480 times in the last 60 days, more than 85% of the atlas. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Algeria compares in the castle statistics.
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