| With more than 400 years of settlement (November | | | | 1763 under the order of King Carlos III. It is a |
| 16, 1519), Havana shows at present, brighter than | | | | 700-meter-long place with an area of 450-meter walls |
| ever, its colonial fortresses to the eyes of thousands | | | | of amazing lines. |
| travelers from all over the world. | | | | Some castles can be found as well in the contrasting |
| We are talking about very historic, well-preserved | | | | Havana. They are bastions of the Spanish colonial |
| places and hence; one of the most attractive | | | | times when the metropolis was interested in keeping |
| destinations for tourist purposes in Havana. These | | | | its colonial belongings out of the reach of pirates. All |
| fortresses were built for defending the capital against | | | | those bastions remain almost untouched by the time, |
| pirates' attacks. | | | | so that, they can be admired. |
| Every single year, precisely at the midnight of the | | | | The most representative of those castles is Los |
| previously-mentioned date, citizens in Havana as well | | | | Tres Santos Reyes del Morro castle on a top of a |
| as many tourists from different nationalities celebrate | | | | high stone at the entrance of the harbor. |
| the anniversary. The traditional celebration consists in | | | | At present, it is a worthy place to go. It can be |
| turning twelve times around the ceiba tree of | | | | reached by car crossing the bay tunnel of Havana. In |
| firstly-built building: el Templete. | | | | this place you can find restaurants like La Divina |
| A good instance of those fortresses, among some | | | | Pastora or Los Doce Apóstoles in tribute to |
| other bulwarks, is the Morro Castle that welcomes | | | | the most important artillery battery the castle had. |
| those travelers who come to Havana by sea. | | | | El Morro, as it is known too, is an irregular |
| The Castillo de los Tres Santos Reyes el Morro was | | | | polygon-shaped thick-wall castle that elevates forty |
| built on a high rocky formation at the entrance of | | | | meters above sea level and that has bastions and |
| the harbor. Construction works took forty years: | | | | defense overhanging. |
| from 1589 to 1630. | | | | Its most relevant event took place in 1762 when |
| Another fortress was the Castillo de la Real Fuerza | | | | English invader troops took it and once there, they |
| that was built between 1558 and 1578. So, | | | | occupied Havana during an eleven-month interval -until |
| construction process took twenty years in total. | | | | July 6th, 1763. |
| Right across from El Morro, in the other side of the | | | | At present, travelers easily see the light from under |
| harbor, it had been built another castle named La | | | | the castle of its ten-meter-tall lighthouse that served |
| Punta aimed at establishing a crossed fire to the | | | | as watchtower. The fuel used in the lighthouse has |
| attackers between the two fortresses. La Punta was | | | | evolved as time passed by: wood at the beginning, oil |
| built on an overhanging site for ten years. It was | | | | from 1819 on, acetylene from 1928 on, and finally |
| finished in 1600, thirty years before El Morro. | | | | electricity since 1945. |
| In addition to those already mentioned, another | | | | These dream fortresses are a Cuba feast for the |
| castle was built. San Carlos de la Cabana was built in | | | | senses, and besides that, a good picture-taking place. |