Fort 'San Filipe' in Puerto Plata

20 August 2007 Sosua News

Fort 'San Filipe' in Puerto Plata

The beautifully named fort of San Filipe (Holy Philip) is undoubtedly the pride of every resident of Puerto Plata. Construction of the fort was started in 1562, and it was completed in 1577. Why was this imposing defensive construction built here? First we need to look at the history of Puerto Plata before telling you the reason why this famous fort was built.
Around June 1502, Nicolás de Ovando ordered the new governor of the island to construct a town, now known as Puerto Plata. The deep water inlet formed a natural harbour. Puerto Plata soon became the most important harbour town on the island.

http://www.sosuanews.com/news_pictur...0-8_fort_1.jpg Fort 'San Filipe'

There was fresh water, fertile soil and plenty of animals for hunting. The harbour became a transit site for products grown inland, such as sugar, salted meat, leather and tobacco.

Tortuga and Jamaica

http://www.sosuanews.com/news_pictur...0-8_fort_2.jpg Pirats

At that time Spain was the most powerful country in Europe, and was constantly at war with England, France and the Republic of the Seven Associated Netherlands. To some extent these wars were fought in the Caribbean. France, England and the Netherlands sent pirates (with official pirate's papers) to the area with orders to plunder, and thus weaken, the Spanish. These pirates used the islands of Tortuga and Jamaica as their base. From Tortuga, the first town that you come to, which has something worth stealing, is Puerto Plata. The town was therefore robbed many times and the pirates took everything. In 1540 Alvaro Canballero approached the Spanish throne and requested materials to build a fort to protect the town. But it was not until 1562 that his request was granted and the construction could actually start.

Protestant church

The fort is build on a piece of rock right beside the entrance to the harbour. This was strategically very advantageous because every ship wishing to enter the harbour had to sail right past the fort, only metres away.
Once the fort was completed (in 1577) the town was well defended against pirate attacks, though this was not only the result of the protection offered by the fort. Relationships with the former pirates had improved considerably by this time. After all, Spain was a long way away, and the French, English and Dutch were direct neighbours to the residents of this little harbour town. The Spanish crown also taxed every load of sugar, leather or tobacco, which meant there was little profit. The harbour was always busy with Dutch, French, Portuguese and English ships that engaged in profitable and lively trade with the residents. They conveniently forgot to pay taxes to Spain.

http://www.sosuanews.com/news_pictur...0-8_fort_3.jpg Fort San Felipe

But the thing that annoyed the Catholic Spanish king even more was the fact that the town was under the influence of Protestants (i.e. heretics). The Protestant seamen from Holland and England were greatly appreciated by the local population for their sheer hard work and reliability. This ensured that the Protestant religion became increasingly popular and the first Protestant church in Puerto Plata was soon openly conducting services.

http://www.sosuanews.com/news_pictur...0-8_fort_4.jpg With canons

Monte Plata

The Spanish King Philip III could not accept this, and in 1605 he ordered everyone to leave Puerto Plata, Montecristi, Bayaguana and Yaguana. The local population would be given new homes in Monte Plata, which was not too far from Santo Domingo, and thus easier for the authorities to control.
The governor (Antonio Asorio) had the thankless task of carrying out these orders. The empty towns, such as Puerto Plata, were reduced to rubble.

http://www.sosuanews.com/news_pictur...0-8_fort_5.jpg Lookout at Fort San Felipe

The church, warehouses, and thus also the fort, were removed stone by stone, and all valuable and useable sections were removed. They wanted to ensure that there was nothing left for the heretics from Holland and England to use.

Not long after this, the French took over the area around Puerto Plata. The wild boars and cows were a good source of income for the buccaneers, as they were called. They sold the hide and meat to the trading ships and pirates. They regularly travelled to the agricultural areas around Santiago and robbed isolated farms. Santiago was not only shocked by these robberies, but also by the loss of its export harbour at Puerto Plata. Farmers in Santiago were now forced to take their products to Santo Domingo and sell them to Spanish traders, naturally at much lower prices. The rich farmers were not happy about this, which is understandable.
They put a lot of pressure on the bishop and governor of Santo Domingo, and demanded that they do something. Still it took another 100 years (until 1737) before the Spanish government decided to send more colonists to Puerto Plata. But the Spanish crown also decided to return the fort to its former glory, because there was still a danger that the town could be attacked by pirates. In 1739 the reconstruction was finally completed, and a garrison of Spanish soldiers celebrated the grand opening.

Gregorio Luperón

Between 1822 and 1844 the Spanish part of the island was conquered by the Haitians (led by Jean Pierre Boyer) who terrorised the population. Puerto Plata also fell to a Haitian regiment, led by General Yacquez Simon. The fort was then used as a barracks, and was used to keep control over the town.
On 27 February 1844, Juan Pablo Duarte, Ramon Matias Mella and Francisco del Rosario Sanchez declared the Dominican Republic an independent state. However, since Duarte was not actually present in the town (he was chasing off the rest of the Haitian army), Pedro Santana declared himself the first president of this infant republic.
Duarte's supporters were outraged, but as soon as Duarte returned to the town he was captured and was held prisoner in Fort San Filipe. If you visit the fort you can see the cell where the 'father of the fatherland' was imprisoned.
In 1879 the hero of Puerto Plata, Gregorio Luperón, came to power for just one year, and he ruled from here rather than from Santo Domingo.

One of his first tasks was to order the total renovation of the long-neglected fort.

http://www.sosuanews.com/news_pictur...0-8_fort_6.jpg Inside the fort

http://www.sosuanews.com/news_pictur...0-8_fort_7.jpg And a statue of Gregorio Luperón

Trujillo

In 1916 the Dominican Republic was occupied by the North American army - who else?

http://www.sosuanews.com/news_pictur...0-8_fort_8.jpg Museum

At that time, Fort San Filipe was used as a base by the American soldiers, where they built wooden barracks behind the centuries-old walls.
The dictator Rafael Leonides Trujillo Molina came to power in 1930, and he soon had the fort converted into a prison to house anyone opposing his regime. After he was murdered on 30 May 1961, the fort became fairly run down. It was only 10 years later that the President (Joaquin Balaguer) had the fort restored. Under the supervision of well-known architect Teodulo Blanchard, the fort was restored to its former glory.
The fort has been in use as a museum since 1974. The various rooms contain exhibits showing the treasures discovered during the various archaeological digs. One hall contains weapons such as muskets, pistols, arrowheads and axes. The old canons can be seen on the outer walls, which were used to keep the pirates at bay.
The fort is located on the Malecón (La Puntilla) and is open daily from 9-17 hrs.