Fortaleza San Felipe

San Felipe was built between 1564 and 1577 to guard the harbour of Puerto Plata against the pirates and smugglers working this coast, and it is the oldest structure still standing on the north coast. It is small: a compact stone fort with thick walls, a dry moat, a handful of rooms and a platform of cannon facing the sea. Inside, a modest museum holds weapons, chains and objects from the fort's long life, including its later use as a prison. The setting is the point as much as the building, standing at the tip of the headland with the malecón running back into town, the Atlantic on one side and the harbour on the other, and Pico Isabel de Torres rising behind.

History

In 1564 the Spanish ordered a fort built at Puerto Plata under the direction of Francisco Ceballos; after his death in 1572 Don Rengifo de Angulo took over, and it was completed in 1577 and named for King Philip II. It stands on a hill above the Atlantic and the harbour entrance, built to defend the north coast against rival European powers and pirates. It was abandoned from 1605 to 1736, after the Devastations of Osorio, and buccaneers held it briefly in 1659; in May 1800 the Battle of Puerto Plata Harbor was fought here, and in 1863 the Spanish took refuge in it when Dominican patriots attacked the city. It served several times as a prison: President Pedro Santana held the founding father Juan Pablo Duarte here. The fort became a museum in 1965, was renovated in 1972 and opened to the public in 1983, and it is the only 16th-century building left in Puerto Plata (Wikipedia, Fortaleza San Felipe).

The main sights

• The fort - the oldest surviving building on the north coast.
• The cannon platform - facing the harbour entrance.
• The small museum - weapons and objects from the fort's history.
• The headland setting - Atlantic, harbour and mountain in one view.

When to go

November to April is drier and calmer. Late afternoon is best, with the light on the water and the malecón filling as the heat drops. It takes under an hour, so it pairs with the cable car up Pico Isabel de Torres.

Things to know

It is genuinely small and the museum is modest; forty minutes covers it. Cruise days bring groups that fill the courtyard. There is little shade on the headland. Puerto Plata's malecón nearby is pleasant but the town has patchy stretches.

Nearby

The Puerto Plata cable car is ten minutes; the Victorian old town is behind the malecón.