For You Lot Data - Puerto Ricans, Spaniards Restore Fort That Defended San Juan

Puerto Ricans together with Spaniards own got joined forces to proceed amongst the restoration of San Geronimo de Boqueron Fort, the island's smallest fortification simply considered the near important; it was rebuilt inwards the 18th century together with defended the uppercase urban essence of San Juan for hundreds of years.

Credit: David Diaz/GoogleMaps

Architect Juan Vera of the Council of Nautical Archaeology at the Puerto Rico Institute of Culture, along amongst or together with thus other Puerto Rican, Ismael Rodriguez, together with the Spaniards Rafael Gomez Aguilar together with Manuel Minero, are inwards accuse of the restoration.

In an interview amongst EFE, Vera said that 2007 saw the start of the cleaning together with reconstruction operate of what he considered "the altar of Puerto Ricanism" because of the events that occurred there, especially the British invasion of 1797.

Gomez, for his part, told EFE that working on restoring the fortress - which he has done for 5 hours every Fri for at to the lowest degree the past times 4 months - makes him the "happiest guy inwards the world," because he feels "privileged" working on a fort used past times the Castilian Earth forces every bit a armed services defence post.

Credit: Wandy Arroyo/GoogleMaps

Gomez, 39, said it was Minero who invited him to bring together the cleaning crew at the small-scale fort, a construction that he "hadn't the slightest idea" what it was until he got in that place the offset fourth dimension together with establish it "sad, pathetic together with amount of trash," simply today it's rattling different.

Diego Menendez, governor of the isle betwixt 1582 together with 1593, fortified the unproblematic construction at Boqueron Point together with installed artillery in that place to protect the instant entrance to San Juan Bay.

The master copy construction defended San Juan from British attacks past times Sir Francis Drake inwards 1595 together with Sir George Clifford inwards 1598.

Credit: Wandy Arroyo/GoogleMaps

The small-scale fort was afterwards rebuilt when a soldier of Irish Gaelic origin, Alejandro O'Reilly, came to the isle inwards the mid-18th century to reorganize the Earth forces together with better the defensive structures.

Later on inwards the century when England lost the thirteen colonies that became the United States, it decided to concentrate on the conquering the Caribbean.

Its ambition reached the yell for of offering to furnish Gibraltar to Kingdom of Spain inwards central for Puerto Rico, simply the Castilian authorities refused to convey the offering "because of the geographical importance" of the Caribbean Area island, Vera said.

Credit: GoogleMaps

England, for its part, was non satisfied amongst the Castilian government's conclusion together with sent a large invasion forcefulness to Puerto Rico led past times Ralph Abercromby, amongst to a greater extent than than 14,500 troops against 6,411 inwards the local military.

The fort had 5 cannons on the instant floor, together with the tiptop of the construction meant a cannonball could move fired at such an angle that it would ricochet off the water, hitting an enemy boat at the waterline together with sink it.

"If nosotros had lost the battle of 1797, it would own got been a dissimilar story," Vera said.

Source: EFE [September 15, 2018]


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