Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas

           Sitting tall on the 40m high San Lazáro hill, The Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas is the greatest fortress built in Colombia by the Spanish. This fortress is so huge that it dominates its section of the Cartagena cityscape. The original commission (1930) of the Castillo was a fraction of the size it is today, with construction starting in 1957. In 1762, a major enlargement was commissioned, bringing the fortress to the size it is today. The Castillo was designed with a complex system of tunnels leading to different strategic points to allow easy evacuation or provision distribution. The tunnels were also designed to reverberate any noise made inside them. This made it easy to communicate and hear the slightest noise of an enemy’s footsteps. The Castillo stood strong, never getting overrun by Colombian rebels even though there were many attempts to storm it.