Havana Castle Of The Royal Force

Very cool mini castle with its own moat. It was set up as one of the defense points for Havana in case of pirates or attempted invasions. Since the city was completely walled in when it was founded. Shows history about how trade was handled and Spanish ships that dominated the carribean during Spanish control of the island.

Castle of the Royal Force is a bastion fort on the western side of the harbour in Havana, set back from the entrance, and bordering the Plaza de Armas. It was originally built to defend against attack by pirates. However it suffered from a poor location- it was too far inside the bay. The fort is considered to be the oldest stone fort in the Americas.Castle of the Royal Force is a bastion fort on the western side of the harbour in Havana, set back from the entrance, and bordering the Plaza de Armas. It was originally built to defend against attack by pirates. However it suffered from a poor location- it was too far inside the bay. The fort is considered to be the oldest stone fort in the Americas.

A World Heritage Site, Castillo de la Real Fuerza Castle is a great sample of military architecture. It is located in the Plaza de Armas Square in Old Havana. It is the oldest fortress still preserved I'm all the Americas, built between 1558 and 1577. Surrounded by an incredible moat. The west tower is crowned by the Copy of a well known bronze weathervane called La Giraldilla.

A mist see when in Havana. Entry for foreigner is same price as locals which is rare, about 2 CUP. Nice views of the town and small and interesting displays.

Interesting visit and convenient for those already visiting old Havana. Enjoyed the many exhibits on 18th century naval technology and marine archeology.

A beautiful fort that is located very close to port, one of the most affordable museums as well at only 2-3 cuc. The exhibits were nice and there was plenty to see both upstairs and down. Unfortunately the staff took it upon themselves to try and sell us unofficial or knockoff items for their personal gain. That was fine and we bought a couple coins to help them out and kind of get them off our backs. As soon as we bought them another worker took our phone and proceeded to take our photos… throughout many rooms and artifacts. We told them thank you but we were leaving and they proceeded to ask for more money, they then took out their phone w/ photos of their children and grand-children continuing to ask for money. We told them sorry and good-bye and we weren’t really in the mood to explore the fort any longer.

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.

Ok for local history, small museum , since there isnt much visitors they closed some section, the castle itself is not as beautiful or big as you think though!