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Castillo de Jagua
Near the entrance to Bahia de Cienfuegos (meaning Bay of Cienfuegos) is Castillo de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Jagua or better known simply as Castillo de Jagua.
In 1738 the governor Juan Francisco de Güemes y Horcasitas ordered the building of a fortress at the entrance of the Bay even though at this time there was still no city or even for that matter any inhabitants of Cienfuegos. The area was vulnerable to attack from Caribbean pirates as economic prosperity was beginning to take hold here in the form of sugar cane production.
Following the architectural plans of Don Bruno Caballero and of course many slaves, the fort was completed by the military engineer Joseph Tantete in 1745. It was defended by 13 canons and a garrison of 100 men.
Furthermore, Spain was at war with England and when word reached them that the English were assembled at Portsmouth under Admiral Richard Lestock, Horcasitas set in motion preparations to fend off an attack in all of the provinces under his jurisdiction. During this period of service for Spain Horcasitas was named viceroy of New Spain.
Inside this first room are works of art by the sailor Luis Romero. He may have also had a job here in the 1970s pushing a wheel barrow and it was said that after a hard day’s work he would begin painting local scenes on natural materials such as wood very much like in the old tempera style.
This next room contains antique furniture and an intricately detailed case in the corner.
This sculpture is the founder of Cienfuegos: Don Luis Declouet Y Piettre. This room here is set out in an exhibition manner and takes visitors through the military history of the fortress. It must be remembered too that when the French colonists founded Cienfuegos in 1819 it was actually called La Villa Fernandina de Jagua.
There are a few antique guns on display and various Royal coats of arms and insignia belonging to those regimes and military personnel that occupied the fort.
The steps leading upstairs reveal the whole vista over the bay and it’s easy to see now that intruders would not have had an easy task avoiding detection or for that matter a military onslaught.
Down below the ground floor are several rooms probably used for storing stocks and weaponry. One of them though was a chapel. A few of those chaplains who practiced here over the years included: Fray Igancio Ortiz Perez 1766, Presbitero Martin Olivera 1887, Fray Feliciano Martinez 1818, and Presbitero Pablo Zoledo who seems to have been the last of his kind when he was here in1866.
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castillo_de_Jagua"> /</a>
http://www.azurina.cult.cu/out_sites/patrim/convocat/luisromero.htm
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/117699/Cienfuegos
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