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Fortín de San Gerónimo de Boquerón is a small
fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
located at the mouth of the
Condado Lagoon Condado Lagoon ( es, Laguna del Condado) is located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is an effluent body of water that flows freely between the Condado and Miramar neighborhoods of Santurce, a barrio of San Juan. Background Its tributary stream ...
, across from the historic sector of Miramar in
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
, Puerto Rico. It was built during the 18th century to replace a smaller battery (called El Boquerón) that stood at the easternmost end of the San Juan islet. The original Boquerón battery was used by the Spanish to defend the city of San Juan from attacks by
Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 158 ...
in 1595 and George Clifford, the third Earl of Cumberland in 1598, who managed to destroy it during his attack. San Gerónimo became part of San Juan's first line of defense, along with the Fortín San Antonio and Escambrón Fort, while the last line of defense was the formidable Castillo San Cristóbal, which guarded the city entrance proper and also defended from land attacks.


Overview

The San Gerónimo and San Antonio forts were pivotal in repelling the invasion by the forces of British Admiral Henry Harvey and
Sir Ralph Abercromby Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Abercromby (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was appointed Governor of Trinidad, served as Commander-in-Chief, Ire ...
in 1797. On April 17, 1797, their combined forces (64 to 68 ships and 7,000 to 13,000 men) landed in Cangrejos, approximately three miles west of San Juan. San Juan's military forces, which included, among others, the ''Regimiento Fijo de Puerto Rico'' (Resident Regiment of Puerto Rico) and the Militias Disciplinadas (Trained Militias) were outnumbered by the invaders by a ratio of almost three to one. Admiral Harvey blockaded the San Juan Harbor while Abercromby established his operations headquarters in San Mateo parish overseeing all of San Juan and the Martín Peña Bridge. Abercromby's strategy was to take the Martín Peña bridge in order to block Spanish reinforcements from the south and bombard San Gerónimo and San Antonio from Miramar to gain access to and cross the San Antonio Bridge into the San Juan islet. British forces included the Royal Marines, made famous by their later defeat of Napoleon's troops in Egypt. Then-Governor of Puerto Rico Field Marshal Don Ramón de Castro y Gutiérrez, a brilliant strategist, prevented the British from advancing and frustrated their conquest of San Juan. The San Gerónimo and San Antonio sustained heavy damage from the constant bombardment during the two-week siege on the city. Chronicles describe the defenders shooting their muskets and cannons from behind sandbags because of the devastation their forts sustained. Both San Gerónimo and San Antonio were eventually rebuilt and expanded. San Gerónimo is located adjacent to the grounds of the
Caribe Hilton Hotel The Caribe Hilton is located in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and is owned by Park Hotels & Resorts and managed by Hilton Worldwide. History In early 1946, as part of the Puerto Rican industrialization effort known as Operation Bootstrap, the Puerto ...
. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 11, 1983. Unlike similar forts near
Old San Juan Old San Juan ( es, Viejo San Juan) is a historic district located at the "northwest triangle" of the islet of San Juan. Its area roughly correlates to the Ballajá, Catedral, Marina, Mercado, San Cristóbal, and San Francisco sub-barrios ( ...
, it is not part of San Juan National Historic Site. San Gerónimo is owned by the
Institute of Puerto Rican Culture The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture ( es, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña), or ICP, for short, is an institution of the Government of Puerto Rico responsible for the establishment of the cultural policies required in order to study, preser ...
but is managed by the Hilton. Thanks to the work of volunteers, the fort is again open to the public and contains an exhibit of the history of San Juan. The "Polvorín de San Gerónimo", or gunpowder house, that was built in 1769 and supplied the fort with gunpowder, is now part of the
Luis Muñoz Rivera Park The Luis Muñoz Rivera Park (or Parque Luis Muñoz Rivera in Spanish) is a 27.2 acre (110,000 m2) recreational public space located in Puerta de Tierra in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The park was named in honor of Puerto Rican statesman Luis Muño ...
nearby. As recent as the year 2006, attempts were being made by the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña and the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...
to build a breakwater to stop any further deterioration from irreparably damaging the centuries-old fort. Senate Vice President Orlando Parga has led efforts to modify some of the construction projects that would encroach on the fort or would hamper the Corps of Engineers' preservation and reconstruction efforts. In July 2007, the Fort was the scene of protests against the construction of a tourist project called Paseo Caribe that would block access to the fortification. Protesters argued that the public should have free access to it. The protest lasted about a week during which the protesters halted the construction projects by climbing onto the cranes. The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 directed the
U.S. Secretary of the Interior The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natura ...
to conduct a study to determine the suitability of including San Gerónimo as part of San Juan National Historic Site. § 7212 After two decades closed to the public, in 2018 the "Asociación Amigos del Fortín de San Jerónimo" was created, a non-profit association that is responsible for the preservation and future reopening for the charity of the Puerto Rican people and tourists.


Gallery

Caribe-Hilton-Fort-San-Jerónimo.jpg Condado Puerto Rico pano.jpg, Panoramic view Fortín de San Gerónimo del Boquerón.jpg, Aerial view Fortín de San Gerónimo from Ashford Ave Bridge.JPG, Fortín de San Gerónimo from Ashford Ave Bridge San Geronimo, Puerta De Terra.jpg Bosselman---11407wc.jpg, San Geronimo, circa 1911


See also

*
Fuerte de San José Fuerte de San José, also known as Fuerte de la Playa de Ponce, was an 18th-through-19th-century Spanish fortress located in Barrio Playa in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. It was part of a three-fort system design to defend the Port ...


References


External links


Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortin De San Geronimo Old San Juan, Puerto Rico Geronimo, Fortin de San Forts on the National Register of Historic Places Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Puerto Rico National Register of Historic Places in San Juan, Puerto Rico Spanish Colonial architecture in Puerto Rico Historic district contributing properties in Puerto Rico