TravelWorld International Magazine Summer 2024

Protecting the
Caribbean
Mural in the National Park in San Juan,
Puerto Rico shows the walls and
fortresses that protected the city
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Once the treasure fleets left Cartagena,
they had to sail the treacherous waters
of the Caribbean. To protect them, Spain
built two incredible fortresses, El Morro
– “the Bull” and Castillo San Cristobal,
at the entrance to the Caribbean in San
Juan, Puerto Rico. Now maintained by
the National Park Service, their towering
stone walls and museums present the
most in-depth look at the lengths the
Spanish had to go to fight these pirates.
Did the defenses work? Well, our friend
pirate Drake attacked San Juan in 1595 –
and failed to capture the town.
Today, the forts overlook the peninsula of
Old San Juan that juts into the Caribbean
like a thumb. Here, the sea is sparkling
blue, beaches begin at the edge of the
fortified stone walls, and the harbor,
once filled with galleons, is now packed
with a fleet of the world’s largest cruise
ships. Nearly every house is covered with
flowering trees, and (fittingly for a pirate
town) you can tour the world’s largest rum
distillery – Bacardi’s. Even the historic
streets (Adoquines) are colorful. They
are made of blue bricks that were cast
from furnace slag and brought over on
Spanish ships as ballast. Under the light of
flickering lanterns, the streets glow with
color as deep blue as the sea.
National Park ranger in El Morro fortress
El Morro, the Bull, is the Castillo
San Felipe del Morro, and one of
the best interpreted fortresses
in English in the world since it is
now a National Park.
Walls surround the
historic shore of
Old San Juan,
Puerto Rico
Castillo de San Marcos was built of coquina, a local
soft stone that absorbed cannonballs and was able to
withstand a British siege.
Catching the
Trade Winds
Next, the Spanish treasure fleets had to sail to the
eastern shore of Florida to catch the favorable
trade winds to Spain. It was here that they were
most vulnerable to pirates, so in 1565, the oldest
city in the United States, St. Augustine, FL, was
built for one purpose: to fight pirates. The Spanish
came to the hot, humid, bug-infested swamp
that was Florida and laid out the first European
grid-style town, a real city with streets and plazas.
For protection, nine wood forts were built -- and
destroyed by pirates in just the early years. Our
friend, the infamous pirate Drake, burned the
town in 1586, 34 years before the Pilgrims landed
at Plymouth Rock.
By 1672, Spain had enough and construction
started on the Castillo de San Marcos – the oldest
and best-preserved stone fort in the United States.
Today, the huge diamond-shaped fortress is a
National Monument. You can walk the ramparts
along the top of its towering, 28-foot-tall walls,
defend the drawbridge, climb out on the bastions
for a view of the harbor, and watch cannons being
fired by re-enactors in Spanish uniforms.
It's just a musket shot from the fort to the St.
Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum. This is
the largest and most authentic collection of pirate
artifacts ever displayed under one roof. Of course,
there are not many pirate artifacts! Most of the
pirates were hanged or killed (Blackbeard went
down with five bullet holes and 20 sword cuts, and
they sliced off his head for good measure).
Entrance to the Castillo de San Marcos.
Pirate Treasure Museum
St. Augustine captures feel of
a pirate town.
St. Augustine, Florida has been
burned by pirates and the British,
but is now a beautiful colonial
town of plazas and fountains.
St. George Street looks like a
setting for pirate movies.
So, there are not a lot of genuine artifacts, but you can see
Blackbeard’s blunderbuss, one of the three remaining “Jolly
Roger” pirate flags, and Captain Thomas Tew’s original
treasure chest – the only known authentic pirate chest in
existence.
The museum is just one of St. Augustine’s pirate attractions.
On their quaint pedestrian streets lined with taverns and
shops, you can’t throw a cutlass without hitting some mention
of pirates. Or even a real pirate. A half dozen people in pirate
costumes continually walk the streets posing for pictures.
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