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CIIC INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE ON CULTURAL ROUTES
CIIC COMITÉ INTERNACIONAL DE ITINERARIOS CULTURALES
CIIC COMITÉ INTERNATIONAL DES ITINÉRAIRES CULTURELS
INVENTORY RECORD
for
BASTIONED FORTIFICATIONS
USE ADDITIONAL SHEETS IF NECESSARY TO EXTEND EACH SECTION
DESIGNATION:
San Felipe del Morro Castle
LOCATION:
San Felipe del Morro constitutes a unit of the San Juan Historic Site which comprises the principal
fortifications associated with the city of Old San Juan and El Cañuelo situated at Cabras island in the west
side of the San Juan bay. The San Juan Historic Site is located in Puerto Rico, a self governing Caribbean
island that is politically associated with the United States. The city of Old San Juan is located on the 615
acre San Juan area. The monument area under the jurisdiction of the National Park Services comprises 75
acres which includes 2.5 miles of stone walls, the fortifications of El Morro and San Cristóbal, and the 3.4
acre fort of El Cañuelo in Cabra’s island.
COUNTRY:
Puerto Rico, USA
GEOGRAPHIC AREA:
(State, Community or Region, Province, Municipality, etc.)
San Juan, Puerto Rico
MAP OF LOCATION
Fort San Felipe del Morro
Paseo de la Castellana, 12- 4º.- 28046 Madrid (España) Tel (0034) 91 4352200 Fax 91 5776318
consejo.inter@arquinex.es
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MAIN HISTORIC DATA
DATE OF CONSTRUCTION (Exact date or period and other additional remarks if necessary)
1539
BUILDER (Military engineer, master mason, technical architect)
Juan Bautista Antonelli, Military engineer
TYPE OF BUILDING (Bastioned fortress, walls, coastal or field batteries, hornworks, bastions,
etc.)
Bastioned Fortress
FUNCTION WITHIN DEFENSIVE SYSTEM (Defense of river mouth, entry to port channels,
mountains, higher ground, jungle, etc.)
Its primary mission was to defend the harbor by preventing a seaborne penetration into the San Juan Bay.
The multi-level, amphiteather like configuration of El Morro’s sea batteries permitted the engagement of
multiple targets at different distances and locations. The terrain behind the fort (esplanade) was shaped
into a slope that denied cover and concealment to advancing enemy infantry and gave the defenders an
unobstructed field of fire.
CULTURAL AND HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE (Role in regional defense strategy, defense of port
cities, etc., including relationship with other historic fortifications belonging to same defensive
system, etc. Related historic events, etc.)
San Felipe del Morro constitutes a key element in the San Juan military defense system that consisted of
the walls that surrounds the city, Fort San Cristóbal, and Fort El Cañuelo. With other fortifications
located in Mexico, Cuba, and Cartagena de Indias in Colombia, this military structure formed an
impressive defense ring that protect the interests of the Spanish empire in the Caribbean area against
enemy natiions for almost three centuries.
MAIN CONSTRUCTION STAGES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Conception: 1540-1600
Development: 1660-1765
Transformation: 1765-1790
Modification: 1790-1898
American Tenure
BUILDING MATERIALS
EL Morro is a massive monument to the empire once ruled by Spain. Multi-level, constructed of
masonry, and built over a period of four-and-a-half centuries, it has evolved into one of the largest New
World fortifications. El Morro is constructed of local materials: sandstone with a calcareous matrix (the
binding agent), sand, and clay (see the section on Materials for a more detailed description of these
items). Brick was used also, however the origin of the early brick is unknown, but certainly, the later
brick was made in Puerto Rico. Local wood (ausubo) was used for doors, shutters and fenestration
framing. In recent years, the National Park Service has used mahogany as a replacement wood for these
elements. The Spanish use of these materials was very conservative and changed little over the centuries.
Mampostería, rubble construction, is used, in varying forms, for non-fortified construction (interior walls,
fill behind ashlar construction, etc.) until the 1890s. Fortified walls were constructed of cut (roughly
dressed) stone, laid in courses varying from 17 to 22 inches high. Varying in length from 18 to 40 inches,
these stones were set in a mortar and had a rubble fill behind. (An early example of this type of
Paseo de la Castellana, 12- 4º.- 28046 Madrid (España) Tel (0034) 91 4352200 Fax 91 5776318
consejo.inter@arquinex.es
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construction can be seen on the ocean side, below Ochoa Bastion. Here, the stone courses are set in
mortar on thin stone leveling courses.)
PRESERVATION
STATE OF PRESERVATION (Good, fair, poor. Specify)
Good
OWNERSHIP AND CURRENT STATUS (Owned by ..., abandoned, etc. Specify)
El Morro Castle is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Interior National Park Service since 1961.
AUTHENTICITY (Superimposed forms, materials and building techniques, as appropriate)
Throughout the centuries El Morro has been experiencing changes in its structure due to the expansion of
its defensive capabilities or as part of the maintenance work to preserve it in optimal conditions. From a
lone tower at the entrance of the San Juan bay in the early sixteenth century El Morro has became an
impressive military structure of 7 levels which boldly protect the interests of the Spanish empire for
almost three centuries.
INTEGRITY (Partially lost or rebuilt sections, etc.)
The fort preserves virtually all its structure intact since 18 th century.
LEGAL PROTECTION AND RESPONSIBLE ADMINISTRATION (Local, regional, national,
worldwide)
The federal government of the United States has delegated the administration of El Morro to the National
Park Service. The State Preservation Office of the commonwealth of Puerto Rico work closely with the
National Park Service in the evaluation of the preservation projects to be implemented in the Fort. In
1984 the UNESCO designated the Fort as a World Heritage Site.
PROTECTION BY SOCIETY (High, medium, low)
High
CURRENT USE (Military, museum, historic site, dwelling, etc.)
El Morro is actually used as a museum and historic site.
ENVIRONMENT (Urban, industrial, countryside, etc.)
Urban
PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT (Sufficient, insufficient. Specify)
National Park Service has deployed a number of environmental measures to protect the integrity of the
structure under its administration. The historic site monuments are continuously exposed to tropical
weather conditions, water vapor, invasive vegetation, human impact and catastrophic damage. In general
terms we can agree that sufficient environmental measures has been taken so far. Despite this, there is a
lot of work to do to improve and expand the existing ones.
ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION (High, medium, low, none)
Due to its exposure to the Tropical weather the environmental degradation is high and constant therefore
the maintenance measures to protect this monument have to be constant in order to preserve its enjoyment
to future generations.
Paseo de la Castellana, 12- 4º.- 28046 Madrid (España) Tel (0034) 91 4352200 Fax 91 5776318
consejo.inter@arquinex.es