The Fort of San Diego ( es, Fuerte de San Diego), formerly also known as the Fort of San Carlos ( es, Fuerte de San Carlos) is a

star fort A bastion fort or ''trace italienne'' (a phrase derived from non-standard French, literally meaning ''Italian outline'') is a fortification in a style that evolved during the early modern period of gunpowder when the cannon came to domin ...

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...

Guerrero Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acapulcocopied from article, GuerreroAs of 2020, Guerrero the pop ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. It was built by the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

, and it was one of the most important Spanish fortifications along the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

coast. The fort was first built in the 17th century, but was completely rebuilt in the 18th century. Today, it is an important landmark in Acapulco, and it is open to the public as the Acapulco Historic Museum ( es, Museo Histórico de Acapulco).

History

The Fort of San Diego was built by the

to protect Acapulco from attacks by pirates, since the city was an important trading port, being the point of departure for the

Manila galleon fil, Galyon ng Maynila , english_name = Manila Galleon , duration = From 1565 to 1815 (250 years) , venue = Between Manila and Acapulco , location = New Spain (Spanish Empire) ...

s. The fort was first built by Viceroy

Diego Fernández de Córdoba, Marquis of Guadalcázar Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''. E ...

, and was completed in 1617 to designs of the Dutch military engineer Adrián Boot. The fort was extensively damaged in an earthquake in 1776, and it was demolished and rebuilt to designs of Ramón Panón. Construction of the new fort began in 1778, and it was completed in 1783. The new fort was given the name ''Fuerte de San Carlos'' in honour of the reigning monarch,

King Carlos III it, Carlo Sebastiano di Borbone e Farnese , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Philip V of Spain , mother = Elisabeth Farnese , birth_date = 20 January 1716 , birth_place = Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Spain , death_d ...

, but it was still called ''Fuerte de San Diego'' by most people, and the new name eventually fell out of use. The fort saw use during the

Mexican War of Independence The Mexican War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de México, links=no, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from Spain. It was not a single, co ...

, and its Spanish garrison under the command of Pedro Antonio Vélez resisted insurgent attacks for several months until it fell to the Mexicans under

José María Morelos José María Teclo Morelos Pérez y Pavón () (30 September 1765 – 22 December 1815) was a Mexican Catholic priest, statesman and military leader who led the Mexican War of Independence movement, assuming its leadership after the execution of ...

on 19 August 1813. The fort remained an active military installation of the

Mexican Army The Mexican Army ( es, Ejército Mexicano) is the combined land and air branch and is the largest part of the Mexican Armed Forces; it is also known as the National Defense Army. The Army is under the authority of the Secretariat of National De ...

, serving the Secretariat of War and Navy in the late 19th century. The fort also saw use during the French intervention in Mexico and the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...

Recent history

It was handed to the ''Secretaría de Bienes Nacionales e Inspección Administrativa'' in 1949 in order to be converted into a military museum. It was administered by the ''

Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia The Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH, ''National Institute of Anthropology and History'') is a Mexican federal government bureau established in 1939 to guarantee the research, preservation, protection, and promotion of the ...

'' (INAH) until 1964, when it was handed to the

Secretariat of Public Education The Mexican Secretariat of Public Education ( in Spanish ''Secretaría de Educación Pública'', ''SEP'') is a federal government authority with cabinet representation and the responsibility for overseeing the development and implementation of ...

to be used by the ''

Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura The Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL, en, National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature), located in the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, is the Mexican institution in charge of coordinating artistic and cultural ...

''. In 1970, it was handed to the ''Junta de Mejoras Materiales del Puerto de Acapulco'' and it was used for cultural and artistic purposes. The fort was handed back to INAH in 1980, and it was opened to the public as a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

in 1986. The museum is dedicated to the history of Acapulco, and its exhibits include archaeological remains from the

Mezcala culture The Mezcala culture (sometimes referred to as the Balsas culture) is the name given to a Mesoamerican culture that was based in the Guerrero state of southwestern Mexico,Coe and Koontz 1962, 2002, p.55. in the upper Balsas River region.López Aus ...

and artifacts relating to the

Manila galleon fil, Galyon ng Maynila , english_name = Manila Galleon , duration = From 1565 to 1815 (250 years) , venue = Between Manila and Acapulco , location = New Spain (Spanish Empire) ...

s, piracy, the

as well as exhibits about the fort itself. The museum is open to the public on Tuesdays through Sundays. Admission on Sunday is free.

Layout

First fort

The original fort as designed by Adrián Boot had an irregular pentagonal shape, and its five bastions were called: *''Baluarte del Rey'' (King's Bastion) *''Baluarte del Príncipe'' (Prince's Bastion) *''Baluarte del Duque'' (Duke's Bastion) *''Baluarte del Marqués'' (Marquis' Bastion) *''Baluarte de Guadalcázar'' (Guadalcázar Bastion)

Second fort

The present fort as designed by Ramón Panón is in the shape of a regular pentagon, and its five bastions are called: *''Baluarte de San José'' (St. Joseph Bastion) *''Baluarte de San Antonio'' (St. Anthony Bastion) *''Baluarte de San Luis'' (St. Louis Bastion) *''Baluarte de Santa Bárbara'' (St. Barbara Bastion) *''Baluarte de la Concepción'' (Conception Bastion) Each bastion had a guerite on its salient, but these were demolished in the 1970s.

References

External links

{{commons category, San Diego Fort
Official website

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

Acapulco Museums in Guerrero Spanish colonial fortifications in Mexico Star forts Pacific Coast of Mexico Buildings and structures completed in 1617 Military installations established in 1783 1617 in New Spain 1617 establishments in New Spain 1783 establishments in New Spain History of Guerrero