5/5 Xavier O. 6 years ago on Google • 585 reviews
After
Havana
was
raided
in
1555
by
French
buccaneer
Jacques
de
Sores,
destroying
the
original
fortress,
it
was
necessary
to
build
a
new
fort
to
protect
the
city
from
further
pirate
attacks.
Castillo
de
la
Real
Fuerza
was
completed
in
1577
to
serve
this
purpose,
but
soon
proved
to
be
ineffective
because
of
its
poor
position
too
far
inside
the
bay.
No
longer
useful
for
defense,
military
commanders
and
governors
moved
in
to
make
the
castle
their
residence.
It
also
was
used
as
a
place
to
safely
store
treasures
brought
from
America.
In
1634,
the
lookout
tower
was
crowned
with
a
bronze
weather
vane
known
as
La
Giraldilla.
It
soon
became
a
symbol
of
Havana,
even
though
there
is
disagreement
about
what
it
represents.
Theories
range
from
it
being
a
symbol
of
victory,
a
representation
of
Seville,
and
a
likeness
of
Ines
de
Bobadilla,
the
wife
of
Spanish
governor
Hernando
de
Soto.
Today
the
fortress
is
a
shipwreck
museum,
displaying
jewels,
artifacts
and
a
huge
model
of
a
naval
ship.
While
the
model
ship
was
impressive,
the
rest
of
the
museum
was
rather
boring.
Everything
was
labeled
in
Spanish,
so
we
were
unsure
of
the
significance
of
what
we
were
looking
at.
Our
visit
was
also
tarnished
by
the
staff
members
who
persistently
hassled
us
for
handouts.
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