US/ICOMOS 12th International Symposium

“Preservation in Peril”
New Orleans
March 11-15
2009

THE PROTECTION OF THE FORTIFICATIONS IN THE CARIBBEAN AND

THE IMPACTS OF HURRICANES AND TROPICAL STORMS.
WHICH WILL BE THEIR FUTURE CONSEQUENCES?

Tres Reyes del Morro Castle. Havana. Cuba

Dra. Lic. Juana Tamara Blanes Martín. (Cuba)

National Center of Conservation, Restoring and Museology
Member of the Board of Directors of ICOMOS-CUBA
Coordinator in America of ICOFORT (International Scientific Committee of
Fortifications and Military Heritage)
PRESENTATION

I am very happy to be here with you, participating in this important Symposium

organized by the United States ICOMOS. I thank Mr. Donald Jones and the rest of the
authorities who made it possible to organize this event in relation to the natural disasters
and the threat to the cultural heritage preservation in the current world.

In this exchange of experiences, I feel obliged to talk about the anguished conservation
problems of the fortifications in the Caribbean and about the more – intense – every –
year impacts of tropical storms and hurricanes, between June and November.

As Coordinator of the American region of ICOFORT and in the name of a lot of people
who work in the fortifications conservation in the Caribbean, I convey to you their
restlessness and deep concern, with the commitment of exhorting you to ask them to
undertake the actions derived from this congress.

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PATRIMONIAL VALUATION OF THE FORTIFICATIONS OF THE
CARIBBEAN

The Caribbean fortifications constitute a

cultural heritage of historical and
monumental relevancy. They were built
on a great scale to protect the Hispanic
commercial colonies in the region. Their
multiple typologies were of European
origin and they were coupled to the
scientific, technical and armaments

San Diego de Acapulco Castle. Mexico.

development, from the XVI century to
the XIX century, the period of the Spanish colonization in America.

The Caribbean is very important because it

was the space where the conquest,
expansion and colonization of America
were undertaken. Here, a commercial
route between Spain and its colonies, of
Mar Caribe
great political, economic and social
repercussion, was settled down. Also,
nineteen typologies were built which

evolved historically as towers, strong-holds, castles,

bul-warked fortresses, redoubts, ramparts, turrets,
platforms, bastions, magazines, batteries, horn-
works, military cross-paths, defensive lines, lines of
observation, fortalices, barracks, guard-houses,
trenches and military hospitals.

San José Redoubt. Campeche. Mexico.

Their multiple designs were mainly drawn by Italian, Spanish and French military
engineers. Stonemasons, bricklayers, carpenters, blacksmiths, designers, slaves, and
salaried workers took part in this great building enterprise.

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 Starting from the decade of the 80’s, in the XX
century, some of these fortifications have been
declared World Heritage by the UNESCO
Convention. The historical, monumental and
landscapist relevancy of the Castle San Lorenzo
de Chagre and the fortifications of Portobelo
were declared in 1980. These were the main
defences of Central America and they were part
of the fluvial route that communicated the
Pacific Ocean with the Caribbean sea, function
San Lorenzo de Chagre Castle.

which is carried out today by the Channel of Panama.

Old Havana and its system of

fortifications in Cuba, obtained this
distinction in 1982. This city, with its
port of call, had transformed into one of
the main commercial squares in
America. Its fortresses are genuine
examples of the classic modern military
architecture built in Hispano-America.
San Carlos de la Cabaña Fortress. Havana. Cuba.

The fortifications of San Juan de Puerto Rico, also reached this condition in 1982.
These are valuable examples of the monumental Spanish colonial architecture.
The Historical National Park of
Haiti, which includes La Citadelle,
the redoubts des Ramiers and the
Palace Sans Souci, were added to
the list of the World Heritage in
1982. Here, the most important
warlike material of the colonial
time in the Caribbean is preserved.
La Citadelle.

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The fortifications of Cartagena de Indias, in Colombia, got this distinction in 1985.
They express the constructive changes which took place in the military architecture of
the XVIII century.

The city of Santo Domingo, together with its

fortifications, in Dominican Republic,
received this declaration in 1990. Their
defences were the first ones to be built in
America.

Homenaje Tower. Santo Domingo.

The castle San Pedro de la Roca del Morro in the

city of Santiago de Cuba, obtained the category of
World Heritage in 1997. It is both, a natural and
built, group where history, architecture and nature
are integrated.

San Pedro de la Roca del Morro Castle.

The city of Campeche, in Mexico, received this distinction in 1999, for its genuine
examples of the military art. Its group has a great monumental value.

In the same year, this condition was also granted to the spectacular National Park of the
fortress of Brimstone Hill, in Saint Kitts, small island in the Caribbean.

National Park. Saint Kitts.

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PROTECTION OF THE FORTIFICATIONS OF THE CARIBBEAN AND
REPERCUSSION OF THE IMPACTS OF TROPICAL STORMS AND
HURRICANES

Outstanding countries in the Caribbean like Puerto Rico, Cartagena de Indias, Santo
Domingo, Venezuela, Panama, Mexico, Haiti, Cuba and others, have a group of
monuments such as cities, fortresses and natural places, which have been declared
World Heritage. This recognition has allowed them to legally protect the cultural and
natural heritage through the UNESCO Convention (Organization of the United Nations
for Education, Science and Culture), created in 1972.

There are also multiple

cities and territories in the
Caribbean that, although
they do not have the
condition of World
Heritage, for several
reasons, they possess an
San Carlos Castle. La Guaira. Venezuela. outstanding cultural
heritage. Their chattels and real estates are generally protected by their respective
governments, although there is not a political will in all the countries to face their
preservation.

The support of non- governmental

international organizations, that have
an economic back, is received to a
certain extent. For example, the
World Monuments Fund Foundation
has been an organization that has
contributed to the conservation and
restoration of fortifications, such as
San Gerónimo Battery. Portobelo. Panamá.
the Castle of San Juan de Ulúa,
in Veracruz, Mexico, the Castle San Lorenzo de Chagre and the Battery of San
Gerónimo, in Portobelo, Panama.

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From the middle of the XX century, the damage of the patrimonial goods, was already
an object of concern, because it affects the evolution of the economic and social life; for
the magnitude of the economic, scientific and technical means require by the
conservation (since not all the countries have enough financial resources) and for the
importance that has for all the towns, the conservation of the cultural goods which are
unique, at a national and international scales.

In this new millennium other problems have been added, that are due to the polar
thawing, as a consequence of the global heating. This phenomenon also rebounds in the
region of the Caribbean at a vertiginous speed.
Some historical cities, mainly those
which are near the coasts, begin to feel
the effects of the climatic changes.
Cartagena de Indias, for its geographical
position, had never been harmed by the
tropical storms, but in the last few years,
the sea level rise and the tides, have
already caused it strong damages. The
Cartagena de Indias City.
floods affect the city giving it the aspect of a “tropical Venice”, as it was recently
expressed by the estimable friends and restorer of Cartagena de Indias, architect Alberto
Samudio. The pavements and cobble stones, of the historical centre and the scarps of
some sectors of the wall, are beginning to be affected by the floods.

San José de Bocachica Battery. San José de Bocachica Battery.

San Fernando’s and San José batteries of Bocachica are affected in the entrance of the
port: the sea penetrates and invades the parade-ground and the vaults where
iconographical prints of patrimonial value also remain. These serious problems are
questioned with concern, Claudia Fadull and María Pía Mogollón, chairwoman of the

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 board and executive
director, respectively, of
Cartagena Society of
Public Improvements,
entity that takes care of
the military monuments in
that city.
San José de Bocachica Battery.

In Haiti, the architect Frederick Mangones said that the last storm in the Caribbean,
removed a great quantity of tiles in the Royal Battery in La Citadelle, on top of La
Ferrière.

In the Island Margarita, Venezuela, the strong rains

knocked down a rampart of Santa Rosa fortress, in the
2000, and recently one of the circumscribing walls of
the Castle San Carlos de Borromeo, was partially
demolished, towards the sand together with a part of
its artillery. This information was given by Ileana
Vasquez, president of ICOMOS-Venezuela and by the
specialist Marina Urbaneja.

The historian Jorge Victoria Ojeda, director of the

San Carlos de Borromeo Castle.

Popular Art Museum at the Yucatan Institute of
Culture and a fortification expert in the Mexican territory, mentions that the hurricanes
Roxana (1995) and Isidoro (2002) caused serious damages and floods in the city of
Campeche. He also adds that the hurricane Wilma (2005) produced the destruction of
many walls and the damage in the agglutinative materials of the old trenches located on
the north coast of the Yucatan peninsula.

The information given by the architect Sara Sanz, the engineer Gaspar Noriega, director
of the fortress San Juan de Ulúa and by the architect Fernando F. Pérez Vignola,
director of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), of Veracruz, are
valuable to know the serious damages suffered by some of the most emblematic
fortifications in the Caribbean: the Castle of San Juan de Ulúa, built to defend the port

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of the old New Spain Viceroyalty and the Castle of San Carlos de Perote, built to
protect the Royal Road from Veracruz to Mexico City, during the colonial period,
which was a jail up to 2007.
The Castle of San Juan de Ulúa has been
seriously affected by natural forces and by
man's action, during the XX century. The
strong winds of the north, the rains that
damage the structure of the building, the
filtrations, the progressive humidity of the

San Juan de Ulúa Castle.

stone in the walls and vaults, the port

infrastructure and the abrupt changes of
temperatures, that cause detachments of
coverings and proliferation of noxious
vegetation, have been permanent problems for
more than one century.

Throughout these years, the government

authorities of Mexico have periodically
made conservation programs for this real
estate. They have studied and applied
advanced technologies, they have placed n
Castle San Juan de Ulúa
enclosure around it, with staked boards to
protect the foundation of the Castle, and
San Juan de Ulúa Castle.
they have taken other constructive actions. Although these works have not had
completely positive results, due to the aggressive area where the Castle is built, it has
stayed until our days and now it faces new threats: the stronger - every - time increment
of storms and hurricanes, in the Gulf of Mexico.

The effects of these phenomena in areas near the coasts are different from the effects in
the areas of the interior of the country. For example, the Castle San Carlos de Perote is
at 2, 400 meters high above the sea level, and considerable changes of temperature

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frequently take place which drop to minus five (5 ° degrees), with fog and drizzle
during the nights and rising of the temperature during the day. This situation keeps the
building in constant state of humidity which has increased with the intense rains of last
years, all of which generates noxious vegetation that reaches up to two centimetres
thick.

San Carlos de Perote Castle.

MEASURES AND ACTIONS AGAINST THE NATURAL DISASTERS IN CUBA

Tropical storms and hurricanes are the natural phenomena that have become worse and
have caused more damage to Cuba, in the economic and social order. The bitter
experiences suffered by Cubans have allowed them to create more perfect and effective
measures to reduce the effects of disasters and emergency.

Camaguey City. Cuba (2008). Before hurricane Camaguey City. Cuba (2008). During the crossing
Ike. of the hurricane Ike.

An informative phase has been put into practice with the help of the massive means of
communication (written press, radio, television) as an essential measure of prevention
of disasters. These means allow the population and the different official organs of the
country to have a quick knowledge of the phenomenon that threatens the country.

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Depending on the concrete situation that threats the country, four phases of information
have been designed, which are announced progressively, and in advance, to give time to
mobilize all the sectors of the country to put into practice systems and measures of
disaster prevention. These phases are:

1. The informative phase, which announces the existence of a disaster with more than
72 hours of advance;
2. The phase of cyclonic alert, which predicts with 48 hours in advance that the
disaster can begin to affect the territory;
3. The phase of cyclonic alarm, which announces which 24 hours in advance, that the
phenomenon will harm the national territory; and
4. The recuperative phase which begins after the phenomenon has passed.

Camaguey City. Cuba (2008). After hurricane Camaguey City. Cuba (2008). Recuperative phase
Ike. after hurricane Ike.

Besides taking these measures, Cuba continues studying alternatives and strategies to
minimize the impact of tropical storms and hurricanes, and the vulnerabilities and risks
to the communities and to the diverse instalments of the country. This task is led by the
Council of National Defence, presided over by
the President of the Council of State, through
the Civil Defence. This is the organ of the
State that centralizes leads and controls the
organized plan, which must be followed by the
population and all the state sectors of each
area, municipality and province in the Cuban
territory.
Baracoa City. Cuba (2008). Recuperative phase
after hurricane Gustav.

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To protect the human life is the main priority. Also the economic, social and cultural
resources are preserved by means of the population's cooperation and the measures put
into practice by all the organisms and Cuban institutions, controlled by the Civil
Defence.

Baracoa City. Cuba (2008). Recuperative phase after hurricane Gustav.

The recuperative phase, after the disaster has passed, is very important because in it we
are going to work hard in order to get the elementary services of survival such as: the
supply of drinking water, food, the cleaning of debris, the reestablishments of
electricity, gas, the means of communications and the vital sectors of agriculture, public
health, industry, culture and education.

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CUBAN FORTIFICATIONS AND THEIR PROTECTION AGAINST NATURAL
DISASTERS

In Cuba, more than 400 defensive fortifications and of logistical support were built
during the four centuries of Spanish colonization. Nowadays, around 100 remain in
different conservation states. The protection laws of the Cuban cultural patrimony,
promulgated in the Republic of Cuba in 1977, protect this cultural heritage, and the
Cuban State, aware of its relevance works for its conservation.

However, as in other Caribbean countries, a specific plan does not exist to protect the
fortifications against the disaster of hurricanes and tropical storms. Each monument,
included the fortifications, is protected according to the place characteristics and
functions. That is to say, each installation prepares a plan of measures according to its
particularities: if they are located near the sea or inside the territory, if they have
museums, gastronomic services or if they fulfil another function.

The protection measures for the real estates are rigorously fulfilled and their care and
prevention is done according to their type and location. A great part of the fortifications
totally conserved, works as museums. First, the goods for the museums and the basic
ones are preserved in secure places; afterwards, the buildings are protected by means of
the reinforcement of doors, windows, windows-panes and other cleaning actions. An
internal evacuation plan is included, if necessary.

Impact of the hurricanes Kate (1985), Wilma (2005), Gustav and Ike (2008)
The hurricanes Kate (1985) and
Wilma (2005) were the ones
that caused bigger damages to
the Havana fortifications,
especially to the Castles of Los
Tres Reyes del Morro and San
Salvador de La Punta, which
are located at the entrance of
the port channel. They are
fortifications of high historical

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and monumental value, which were built by the Italian engineer Bautista Antonelli, to
close the passage of the port channel from the XVI century.

For many years, the Castle of El Morro has

faced constructive problems due to its
environmental aggressiveness. The force of
the winds of the hurricane Kate, 1985,
moved two canyons Elorza in their rails and
pulled up the sentry-box located in the
rampart of Tejeda. It is not difficult to see
Tres Reyes del Morro Castle.

how in the last years the waves have arrived until the height of the tower of the
lighthouse, symbol of Havana city, built in the XVI century and reconstructed in the
XIX century.

The historian Jorge Echevarría, then director of the museum of the Castle San Salvador
de La Punta, has related the terrible experience suffered by this fortress during the
passing of the hurricane Wilma in 2005. As preventive measures, objects of the
museum, such as gold; silver bars, precious stones and other outstanding pieces which
were removed from the Havana coast jetsam were taken out of the building in advance.
Other objects, such as cabinets and basic means of the museum, were placed in the
upper floor so that they didn't suffer damages.

San Salvador de la Punta Castle (2005). Before and after hurricane Wilma.

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 San Salvador de la Punta Castle (2005). After hurricane Wilma.

In his testimony, he mentions that water of the rain flooded the moat and rose up to two
meters high inside the vaults. The Rescue and Salvage Brigade integrated by firemen,
and the headquarters of the Protection and Security Company, played an important role
in taking out the employees with ropes, in keeping the radio communication and in
giving instructions about what should be done.

In the recuperative phase, they waited until the waters were drained and later on they
carried out the tasks of cleaning and re-establishing the service infrastructure of the
building. In 2009, the castle has not still restored its museum.

Baracoa, the first city founded in Cuba, which is located on the western part of the
Island, suffers frequent sea penetrations due to the strong marine currents of the Atlantic
Ocean. Its population witnessed the destruction of the city by the hurricanes Gustav and
Ike in 2008. The pictures of that disaster travelled all over the world.

Baracoa City (2008). After hurricane Gustav.

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The Community architect, Fabián Quintero Machado, witness of that phenomenon and
executioner of the emergency housings plans for the population, said that the two
Batteries located on the coast, Matachín and La Punta, both of the XVIII century and
symbols of Baracoa, were seriously damaged, and at present, their future conservation
worries the authorities of the municipality.

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CONCLUSIONS

• The damage of the fortifications has generally been caused in the region of the
Caribbean, by bad building interventions, by their inadequate uses, the lack of
systematic maintenance, the lack of political will of some countries for their
conservation and, most of all, by the environmental pollution due to the salinity, the
presence of nearby industries and the port infrastructure. The ports have degraded
the authenticity of the landscape, besides polluting the atmosphere, because of the
bays dredge and the ship traffic. Nowadays, a new threat is added to their damage:
the intensity and frequency of the atmospheric phenomena.
• The recent sampling carried out in historical cities in the Caribbean such as Puerto
Rico, Cartagena de Indias, Venezuela, Mexico, Haiti and Cuba, coincides in the fact
that the fortifications, a cultural heritage which has survived along five centuries, are
seriously damaged. Specific measures of protection for the coastal fortifications do
not exist; neither a campaign to face the danger of meteorological disasters.
• Cuba is an example of the putting into practice of an emergency plan of prevention
against natural disasters. This organized system involves the whole Cuban territory,
from its population to all the governmental organizations and institutions of the
country. The fortifications are protected with the same preventive measures adopted
for the real state. In spite of the obtained achievements, we go on trying to better
each day the measures and the internal organization needed to face the
meteorological phenomena.
• The future of the fortifications in the Caribbean region constitutes a general concern
of all the people who work in the preservation of the cultural heritage. It is a
patrimony that was generally conceived for the coasts. Many of them were built on
stakes and others were lifted on mountains, fields and cities.
• The disappearance of many coastal fortifications, which constitute a patrimony of
high historical and monumental value, is predicted, because the sea level is rising
every year.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

• The climatic and environmental challenges of the region demand a systematic

monitoring of the fortifications so that they could be able to face the impact of the
atmospheric phenomena and to lessen the damages.
• The abandonment of the fortifications causes the total ruin of the real estate. Their
care by a governmental institution or by a particular entity and their adequate use
guarantee the protection of this cultural heritage, regarding any other circumstances.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Blanes Martín, Tamara. Fortificaciones del Caribe. Letras Cubanas, La Habana,

Cuba. Printed in Madrid, España, 2001.
2. ________________. El valor de las fortificaciones del Caribe. Logros,
conservación y perspectivas. Revista Apuntes. Publicación de la Pontificia
Universidad Javeriana de Bogotá. Vol. 17, núms. 1-2, enero-diciembre 2004.
Colombia.
3. ________________ . Fortificaciones cubanas. Revista de Historia Militar.
Publicación del Instituto de Historia y Cultura Militar. Año L, Núm.99. Madrid,
España, 2006,
4. ________________. Integridad de las fortificaciones del Caribe y sus
declaratorias de Patrimonio Mundial. Revista Lettres de Cuba. Ministerio de
Cultura de Cuba y Francia. CUBARTE. Ministerio de Cultura de Cuba. Publicación
digitalizada. 2006.
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degli Ingegneri Della Toscana. Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze, 2003.
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Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural. Ministerio de Cultura, 2002.
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Caracas, Venezuela, 2000.

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