Fuerte dela Concepcion y del Triunfo
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The Fuerte de la Concepción y del Triunfo (Fort of the Conception and the Triumph), also known as Fuerte de Nuestra Señora de la Concepción del Triunfo (Fort of Our Lady of the Conception of Triumph), Fort of Misamis, and Triunfo Fort, is a
citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In ...
first built by Spanish Jesuit priest and commander José Ducos as a Spanish fortress in the old town of Misamis (now known as the modern city of
Ozamiz Ozamiz, officially the City of Ozamiz ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Ozamiz; fil, Lungsod ng Ozamiz), is a 3rd class component city in the province of Misamis Occidental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 140,334 people. A ...
) in the island of
Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
. The fort is an important historical landmark of the area as it symbolizes the city's cultural heritage. Outside of the fort's south wall is the Archdiocesan
Marian Marian may refer to: People * Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places * Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queenslan ...
Shrine of the Birhen sa Cotta, which is dedicated to the city's patron, Nuestra Señora de la Inmaculada Concepción y del Triunfo de la Cruz de Migpangi. The shrine is a well known pilgrimage site in city.


Background

The fort is square in shape, with one of its side is facing the bay while the opposite side is facing the city. The fort has 4
bastions A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...
(baluarte), namely San Fernando, San Jose, Santiago and San Ignacio. The fort's material is mostly blocks made from a mixture of
coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...
and
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
joined together by
lime Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...
. The stones were a common material used in buildings and these were mostly abundant in the nearby Panguil Bay and islands. At the fort's entrance is a large gate that was added during the fort's renovation. The gate features a
bas relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
of Saint James (''Santiago'' in Spanish), adorned on its
façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...
.


History


Construction

1754 was known back then as a time of great suffering for the people living in coastal towns and villages in southern
Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
,
Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; tl, Kabisayaan ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Luzon and Mindanao ...
and
Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
. Marauding pirates would appear, with no warning, and would burn the houses, crops, and carry away as many of the people as they could catch in order to be sold as slaves in
Maguindanao Maguindanao (, Maguindanao language, Maguindanaon: ''Prubinsya nu Magindanaw''; Iranun language, Iranun'': Perobinsia a Magindanao''; tl, Lalawigan ng Maguindanao) was a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the ...
,
Sulu Sulu (), officially the Province of Sulu (Tausug language, Tausūg: ''Wilāya sin Lupa' Sūg''; tl, Lalawigan ng Sulu), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines in the Sulu Archipelago and part of the Bangsamoro, Bangsamor ...
,
Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...
or
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. This problem led to the creation of a
flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' (fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class ...
by the Spanish government, and a Spanish
Jesuit missionary , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...
, Father José Ducos, was appointed as its commander in order to counter this scourge. After several victorious battles and when some peace was restored, it was decided to construct a stone fort at the mouth of
Panguil Bay Panguil Bay is an arm of Iligan Bay in Mindanao, Philippines. The bay forms the natural boundary separating the Zamboanga Peninsula from the rest of the island of Mindanao. It borders the provinces of Misamis Occidental, Zamboanga del Sur, and L ...
as a form of protection against future attacks. Construction of the fortress soon began in 1756. However, due to limited money for the payment of workers and transport of materials, the fort took a long time to finish. The fort also served as shelter for the ships of the Spanish fleet during that time. Because of the fort's benefit to the town, Misamis became the most important town in
Northern Mindanao Northern Mindanao ( tl, Hilagang Mindanao; ceb, Amihanang Mindanao; Maranao: ''Pangotaraan Mindanao'') is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region X. It comprises five provinces: Bukidnon, Camiguin, Misamis Occidental, ...
in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Misamis was then made the capital of the District of Misamis when Mindanao was originally divided into five districts, until during the 1870s when the seat of government was transferred to
Cagayan de Oro Cagayan ( ), officially the Province of Cagayan ( ilo, Probinsia ti Cagayan; ibg, Provinsiya na Cagayan; itv, Provinsiya ya Cagayan; fil, Lalawigan ng Cagayan), is a province in the Philippines located in the Cagayan Valley region, covering ...
.


Naming of the fort

Father Ducos belonged to a society that had a special devotion to the Blessed
Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...
, under her title of the
Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...
. The fort and the town was therefore put under her patronage, which led to the fort being officially called ''Fuerte de la Concepción y del Triunfo''. The "Triunfo" (Triumph) was the name of the leading vessel in the battles that cleared the harbor of Misamis and Panguil Bay of pirates. It was named in honor of the "
Triunfo de la Cruz Tela is a town, with a population of 38,030 (2020 calculation), and a municipality in Honduras on the northern Caribbean coast. It is located in the department of Atlantida. History Colonial era Tela was founded by the Spanish conquistador ...
", the decisive battle in which the united Christian armies of Spain defeated the
Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...
at Las Navas de Tolosa in the year 1212. In thanksgiving for that victory, the Spaniards celebrated a special feast on July 16 called Triunfo de la Cruz (Triumph of the Cross).


Patronage

During or after the fort's construction, the image of the Nuestra Señora dela Inmaculada Concepción y del Triunfo de la Cruz de Migpangi arrived at Misamis. Father Ducos then placed the fort under her patronage and enshrined the image in a chapel inside the walls. Outside the fort's southern wall is a
bas relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
of the Virgin, which is facing the bay. The wooden image was kept in the fort until sometime between 1875 and 1884 when it was transferred to the nearby parish church (now the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Ozamiz) by fray Jorge Carcabilla, the Spanish priest that was assigned in Misamis at the time, as both the chapel and the image was not properly taken care of. Sometime in the late 1950s, a mad person hacked the two century old bas relief to pieces using a
bolo Bolo may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Bolo, a fictional tribe in ''bolo'bolo'' by P.M. * Bolo, a character in the ''Shantae'' series * ''Bolo'' universe, a science fiction universe created by Keith Laumer * Prin ...
. A devotee set up a plaster replica of the image on its stead, and is still being venerated today.


World War II

During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
,
Wendell Fertig Wendell Fertig (December 16, 1900 – March 24, 1975)Brooks 2003, p. 37. was an American civil engineer, in the American-administered Commonwealth of the Philippines, who organized and commanded an American-Filipino guerrilla force on the Jap ...
established the command headquarters of the growing guerrilla resistance to the Japanese occupation of Mindanao in the Spanish fort in the city on October 1942 during the Japanese occupation in Misamis. However, his headquarters was abandoned on June 26, 1943, in the face of a large Japanese attack. The fort was captured and garrisoned by a contingent of Japanese soldiers who dug foxholes near and under the walls. This undermining of the walls later lead to the destruction of the southwest bastion in a 7.4-magnitude earthquake of 1955.


Cotta today

Today, the fort is now a known tourist and pilgrimage destination. It is also now divided into three parts: Cotta Shrine, Cotta Garden (the inside), and Cotta Beach. The outdoor Marian Shrine area was formerly a gate, which is now closed and walled in. Inside the fort is a garden, where it features a small museum that holds precious artifacts from the fort and the city. On the southeast bastion is a 9 meter (30 ft) tall, concrete
lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...
that was erected around 1917. The lighthouse has a focal plane of 17 meters (55 ft) and it has two red flashes every 10 seconds. The fort was renovated and restored to its original design in 2002. The fort was also declared as a National Historical Landmark on March 13, 2002 by the
National Historical Commission of the Philippines The National Historical Commission of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Komisyong Pangkasaysayan ng Pilipinas, abbreviated NHCP) is a government agency of the Philippines. Its mission is "the promotion of Philippine history and cultural herita ...
. On July 16, 2006, the
Philippine Postal Corporation The Philippine Postal Corporation ( fil, Korporasyong Pangkoreo ng Pilipinas), abbreviated as PHLPost and also known as the Philippine Post Office, is a government-owned and controlled corporation responsible for providing postal services in the ...
issued stamps of the fort in commemoration of its 250th anniversary. The Cotta Garden and Beach is currently undergoing renovations.


Gallery

File:OzamizCotta1900s.jpg, The fort during the 1900s


References

{{Spanish forts in the Philippines Buildings and structures in Ozamiz Forts in the Philippines Spanish colonial infrastructure in the Philippines Spanish Colonial Fortifications of the Philippines Marked Historical Structures of the Philippines Misamis Occidental Roman Catholic shrines in the Philippines Ozamiz