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Fortress

Cape Town Lens: Forteresse de San Carlos de la Cabaña / San Carlos de la Cabaña Fortress / Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabaña

13 October 2019 By //  by Alan

A Cape Town Castle Military Museum tagged image from photographer – nyctaline as published on Flickr.

Forteresse de San Carlos de la Cabaña / San Carlos de la Cabaña Fortress / Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabaña
Castle Military Museum
Image by nyctaline

La Forteresse de San Carlos de la Cabaña, a été construite en 1763 par l’Espagne à l’entrée du port de La Havane, alors que Cuba était l’une de ses colonies. C’était alors le plus grand complexe militaire du Nouveau monde. La forteresse servit ensuite de prison pendant le régime de Fulgencio Batista et après la prise du pouvoir de la révolution cubaine en 1959. De nombreux procès et exécutions y eurent alors lieu sous la supervision de Che Guevara. C’est maintenant un parc historique contenant plusieurs musées. (Wikipédia)

The fortress served as both a military base and prison, over the next two hundred years, for both Spain and an independent Cuba. La Cabaña was used as a military prison during the Batista regime. In January 1959, rebels led by Che Guevara captured La Cabaña, to use it as a headquarters and military prison for several months, while leading the Cuban revolution. During his five-month tenure in that post (January 2 through June 12, 1959), Guevara oversaw the revolutionary tribunals and executions of suspected war criminals, traitors, chivatos (informants), and former members of Batista’s secret police. The complex is now part of a historical park, along with El Morro castle, and houses several museums open to the public. From there, every night a cannon shot rumbles at 9pm as the so-called "El Cañonazo de las 9", a custom kept from colonial times, signaling the closure of the city wall doors. (Wikipedia)

Une journée à la Havane / One day in Havana / Uno dia en La Habana, Cuba


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Quick Cape Town Fact: Cape Town was founded in 1652 when Jan van Riebeeck of the Dutch East India Company based in The Netherlands arrived to set up a halfway point for ships travelling to the East.

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Filed Under: Images Tagged With: Cabaña, Cape, Carlos, Fortaleza, Forteresse, Fortress, Lens, Town

Cape Town Lens: Belgrade Fortress

28 August 2019 By //  by Alan

A Cape Town Castle Military Museum tagged image from photographer – Jorge Lascar as published on Flickr.

Belgrade Fortress
Castle Military Museum
Image by Jorge Lascar

The Belgrade Fortress was built as a defensive structure on a ridge overlooking the confluence of the Sava and the Danube rivers during the period from the 2nd to the 18th century. Today the fortress is a unique museum of the history of Belgrade. The complex is made up of the Belgrade Fortress itself, divided into the Upper and Lower Town (Gornji/Donji Grad), and the Kalemegdan Park.

Because of its exceptional strategic importance, a fortification — a Roman castrum — was erected here in the 2nd century AD, as a permanent military camp for the Fourth Flavian Legion. After being razed to the ground by the Goths and the Huns, the fortification was rebuilt in the first decades of the 6th century. Less than a century later it was demolished by the Avars and the Slavs.

Around this fortification on the hill above the Sava and Danube confluence, the ancient settlement of Singidunum grew up, later to become the Slav settlement of Belgrade. The Belgrade Fortress has been demolished and rebuilt on numerous occasions. On top of the Roman walls stand Serbian ramparts and on top of them, Turkish and Austrian fortifications. In the 12th century the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus built a new castle on the Roman ruins. During the first decades of the 14th century this small hill-top fortification was extended as far as the river banks.

Under the rule of Despot Stefan Lazarević, Belgrade became the new capital of Serbia and was reinforced by the addition of extensive fortifications to the Upper and Lower Town. The Despot’s palace was built in the old castle, and a military harbour was added on the Sava river. An advanced mediaeval city developed within the ramparts.

A new era began with the Austro-Turkish War. As a key fortification at the heart of the armed conflicts of the 18th century, the Fortress was rebuilt three times. Under the Austrian occupation from 1717 to 1739, and after the construction of new modern fortifications, the Belgrade Fortress was one of the most powerful military strongholds in Europe. It was built according to plans drawn up by Colonel Nicolas Doxat de Démoret, a Swiss serving in the Austrian army. Before the Turks returned to Belgrade in 1740 all the newly constructed fortifications were demolished. By the end of the 18th century the Belgrade fortress had taken on its final form.

KALEMEGDAN

Kalemegdan, today Belgrade’s most beautiful and largest park, was during the time that the Fortress was Belgrade’s main military stronghold, used to observe and await the enemy in battle.

Consequently its name derives from the Turkish words kale meaning ‘fort’ and meydan meaning ‘square’ or ‘field’. The Turks also called Kalemegdan Fikir -bayır which means ‘hill for contemplation’.

Kalemegdan contains the Keys of the Belgrade Fortress memorial, the Monument of Gratitude to France, the Cvijeta Zuzorić Art Pavilion, the Music Pavilion, the Great Steps (Veliko Stepenište), the Zoo, a children’s fun fair, and a number of monuments, sculptures, sports facilities, resturants and cafés.

Belgrade Fortress today is a cultural property of great importance, and a venue for frequent cultural, artistic and entertainment events [Serbia.travel]


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Quick Cape Town Fact: Cape Town is sometimes called the ‘Tavern of the Seas;’ mainly, because the port of Cape Town is deemed to be one of the busiest shipping corridors in the world.

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Filed Under: Images Tagged With: Belgrade, Cape, Fortress, Lens, Town

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