San Carlos de Borromeo Fortress
| San Carlos de Borromeo Fortress | |
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| Pampatar, Isla Margarita | |
San Carlos de Borromeo Fortress
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 San Carlos de Borromeo Fortress
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| Coordinates | 10°59′51″N 63°47′55″W / 10.997513°N 63.798485°W |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1664 - 1684 |
| Built by | Juan Betín (design) Captain Carlos Navarro (construction) |
San Carlos de Borromeo Fortress (Spanish: Castillo San Carlos de Borromeo) is a colonial fortress in the Bay of Pampatar in the northeast of Isla Margarita, Venezuela. It was completed in 1684, standing on the site of an earlier fortification, in an era when there was a constant threat from pirates or privateers. The fortress was ransacked several times before Venezuela gained independence. Today the castle has been restored and serves as a museum.
Pampatar, or Port Royal Mampatare, was founded in 1536 on the shore of the best protected deep water anchorage on the island. The city was divided into two parts due to the irregular coastline. The original castle was built over a period of about 20 years, started in 1622. It was sited in the heart of the old city, looking out over the Bay of Pampatar. Its purpose, together with the La Caranta fort on the other side of the bay, was to protect the town from pirates with crossfire.
The fort was destroyed by Dutch pirates in 1662 when they burned Pampatar. In 1664 Captain Carlos Navarro began the reconstruction of the castle after a design by military engineer Juan Betín. In 1676 Juan Muñoz Gadea was appointed Governor of Margarita. When he reached the island in August 1677 he found that it had been devastated earlier in the year by a privateering raid by the French Marquis de Maintenon. Gadea focused all available resources, including some of his own funds, on completing and manning Fort San Carlos. The work was eventually completed in 1684. In subsequent years the castle was destroyed and rebuilt several times. La Caranta was destroyed by pirates in 1626. The ruins remain.
During the Venezuelan War of Independence the revolutionary Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi was held in the castle in 1816 while being moved from the Castillo de Santa Rosa in La Asunción to the prison in La Guaira on the mainland. She is considered the heroine of the war of independence, and her remains are now in the National Pantheon of Venezuela.
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Wikipedia