Forts of the Caribbean (4) Santo Domingo

Last Week Ariana and I were in Punta Cana and took a day trip to Stanto Domingo where I was able to get photos of the old city and some of its fortifications.  We did not visit the main fort know as Fort Ozama(more on that latter) but we did see several coastal batteries and parts of the cities outer walls.

Coastal Battery if it has a name I did not learn it. 

This seems to guard the mouth of the Ozama river 

  

It also covers this beach which might other wise be a great place to land a small boat 

We entered the City through the Puerta De Las Atarazans which is actual the old exit of the city the entrance is on the other side of the Casa De Columbus and is called the Puertas de San Diego

The Casa De Columbus Built by Diego Columbus son of the famous Explorer and first Viceroy of the island.

View looking up at Casa De Columbus from the street behind the Puerta de Las Atarazans

The House is built practically on top of the walls and its balconies would have probably mounted extra cannon or at least sharpshooters in the event of a prolonged siege. Still facing the river its unlikely to be the focus of such an attack.

The house from the Plaza side.

16th Century Armor not original to the house nothing in side is as it was plundered by Sir Francis Drake

This Bastion is directly under the balcony of the House commanding the harbor the harbor and the rive

This is the inside of the view of the Puertas de San Diego

Santo Domingo is a walled city this section of wall is right in fount of the main Government again facing the river (I never did see the land side fortification if any survive).  There seem to be a lot of guns I wonder how many trained gunners were present in the city at any one time. Granted if a ship sailed into the river the range is close so militia Gunners could probably have made a reasonable showing if given warning.

The one halfway decent shot I got of Fort Ozama the oldest European "military district" in the New World. Its more a castle than a fort of the swashbuckling period of the pirates we gamers are more likely to focus on

I also got this shot as we drove away on the far side of the rive you can see the Ozama tower and the wall of the city in front of it through some modern barbed wire along a fence top as the buss headed back to Punta Cana.