Castillo de la Real Fuerza Havana

Great place and history. Have to pay (2-3 CUC) to visit inside the castle but the grounds are free entrance.

Very disappointing. We were charged for admissions and five minutes later we are being told the place is closing in five minutes. A lady approached us and told us that since we seemed like nice people she would get us into an area of the museum that was off limits. She walked us into a room that had a cord. She removed the cord and asked us to hurry in as if she was doing something wrong. It was all staged. The area is not off limits but they convince you it is. This was in 2012.

Interesting visit and convenient for those already visiting old Havana. Enjoyed the many exhibits on 18th century naval technology and marine archeology.

Very cool mini castle with its own moat. It was set up as one of the defense points for Havana in case of pirates or attempted invasions. Since the city was completely walled in when it was founded. Shows history about how trade was handled and Spanish ships that dominated the carribean during Spanish control of the island.

After Havana was raided in 1555 by French buccaneer Jacques de Sores, destroying the original fortress, it was necessary to build a new fort to protect the city from further pirate attacks. Castillo de la Real Fuerza was completed in 1577 to serve this purpose, but soon proved to be ineffective because of its poor position too far inside the bay. No longer useful for defense, military commanders and governors moved in to make the castle their residence. It also was used as a place to safely store treasures brought from America. In 1634, the lookout tower was crowned with a bronze weather vane known as La Giraldilla. It soon became a symbol of Havana, even though there is disagreement about what it represents. Theories range from it being a symbol of victory, a representation of Seville, and a likeness of Ines de Bobadilla, the wife of Spanish governor Hernando de Soto. Today the fortress is a shipwreck museum, displaying jewels, artifacts and a huge model of a naval ship. While the model ship was impressive, the rest of the museum was rather boring. Everything was labeled in Spanish, so we were unsure of the significance of what we were looking at. Our visit was also tarnished by the staff members who persistently hassled us for handouts.