Fuerte de San Diego

For two and a half centuries, Acapulco was the American terminus of the Manila galleon - the trans-Pacific route that carried Chinese silk, porcelain, ivory and spices to New Spain and Mexican silver back to Asia - and the Fuerte de San Diego was built to protect it. First raised in the early 1600s and rebuilt as a five-pointed star fort after an earthquake in the 1770s, its moat, bastions and gun platforms command the bay, and it saw action against Dutch raiders and, later, in the independence war. Today it houses the Museo Historico de Acapulco, whose galleries run through pre-Hispanic Guerrero, the conquest, the galleon trade in detail - navigation, cargoes, the annual fair that turned Acapulco into a global marketplace for a few weeks each year - piracy, independence and the twentieth-century emergence of the resort city. The building is the other exhibit: cool stone rooms, ramps to the ramparts and views over the old harbour. It is the one indoor cultural stop in Acapulco that consistently repays a couple of hours.

History

The first fort was built to guard Acapulco, the port of the Manila galleons, from pirates and was completed in 1617 to designs by the Dutch engineer Adrián Boot. After heavy damage in an earthquake in 1776 it was rebuilt to designs by Ramón Panón between 1778 and 1783 and named Fuerte de San Carlos after King Carlos III, though most people kept calling it San Diego; in 1949 it was handed over to become a museum (Wikipedia, Fort of San Diego).

The main sights

• The star fort - moat, bastions and gun platforms.
• The galleon rooms - the Manila trade told with objects.
• The ramparts - views over the bay and old town.
• The Guerrero galleries - the region before and after conquest.

When to go

Any day but Monday; mornings are coolest and quietest. November to April keeps the whole city more comfortable.

Things to know

Labels are Spanish-first with partial English. The ramparts are hot at midday. The surrounding old town has seen better decades; taxis are the sensible approach after dark.

Nearby

La Quebrada's divers, the zocalo and the malecon are within walking distance.

Key facts