Peñas Altas: a forgotten colonial military fortification

Welcome back blog readers. New publication available!
It is with great pleasure once more that I announce the publication of yet another of our papers in the series dedicated to the archaeology and history of the military fortifications of the bay of Matanzas, Cuba. In this occasion, we discuss new evidence – of archaeological, historical and geological nature –pertaining to the battery of Cagigal or Peñas Altas. Demolished in 1962, this battery was converted to a park and nearly forgotten by locals, was named in the honor of one of Cuba’s colonial governors: don Juan Manuel de Cagigal y Martinez, who governed the island from 1819 until 1821.



One of our new discovered fort plans made it to the cover:
Penas Altas battery plan of 1819

 An abstract of the paper reads thus:

The coastal battery of Peñas Altas was the last fortification to complete the defensive system surrounding Matanzas Bay, Cuba. This research offers new information gathered from the analysis of unpublished maps, historical archives, and a preliminary archaeological survey. Such information has allowed us to limit the construction of the fortification between December 1819 and 1820, and not in 1818- 1819 as assumed by traditional historiography. Four important moments in its evolution are identified: planning and construction (1818-1827), remodeling (1840-1850), expansion (1876-1886), and a second remodeling in 1907. Peñas Altas functioned as a military post throughout the nineteenth century, and later became a police station and munition warehouse until its demolition in 1962. Only a few walls and part of the platform remain, however, they represent an important part of the lost heritage with potential for further research and tourism development.

The paper presents several unknown or inedited documents, plans, maps and photographs that record the history of the battery and the changes it underwent through Cuban history. We also explore the preservation of several of its surviving features and the possibility of turning its current state into a historical park.

The article is available on my other pages here, or on the page of the scientific journal Arquitectura and Urbanismo, on which it was published.

Thank you once more for reading and visiting. Stay tuned for more news!

Recommended citation

Hernández de Lara, O., J. Orihuela León & B. Rodríguez Tápanes (2019). Batería de Peñas Altas: apuntes histórico-arqueológicos sobre una fortaleza olvidada (Matanzas, Cuba). Revista científica de Arquitectura y Urbanismo, XV, 1: 5-22.

Local practices did not often follow royal orders

Our new article is out, published in the Cuban traditional journal Islas. This specialized magazine divulges studies in humanities and social sciences and has been in existence since 1958 when it was first edited and coordinated by Samuel Feijoo. Today, its base is located in the Universidad Central “Marta Abreu” of Las Villas, in central Cuba.

Main drawbridge to the Castillo de San Severino, Matanzas city, Cuba

The article deals with the earliest and lest known history of the Castillo de San Severino, the cities’ oldest building and the main reason for the city’s official foundation. Most especially, it drives home the point that many of the ordinances, related to the Castillo’s construction and the city’s foundation, although painstakingly designed and ordained in such manner by the crown, where not fully obeyed by the local officials. This likely mirrors the situation, not just in rural Cuba, but also in its major cities and throughout the New World, far from the Spanish Crown. This was likely the cause of differences in what the crown thought best for its subjects and colonies, and what the inhabitants of those colonies actually needed or felt it was to their best interest.

Here is a brief abstract

Castillo de San Severino in Matanzas had a construction standstill that lasted between 1694 and 1716. The historiography of the fort during these years pointed to the lack of funds to maintain a stable labor and materials for its construction as the main cause of the standstill. However, primary documents, including one by Juan de Síscara, assistant engineer to the viceroy of Mexico in 1696, points to other common factors for such delay of construction. In this way, our study provides new information and a new interpretation on one of the least known years of the construction of San Severino, plus insight into the political dynamics that influenced the construction and maintenance of Cuban military entities during the late 17th Century.

The article can be downloaded for free at Islas or here. On that note, I send out a happy birthday to all my friends from La Habana, a city that turns 499 years today.

Citation:

Orihuela, J., O. Hernández de Lara & R. Viera Muñoz (2018). Órdenes reales y prácticas locales: el Castillo de San Severino de Matanzas y la dinámica colonial (1683-1698). Islas 60 (191): 39-68.

 

Matanzas’s City turns 325

For the town of San Carlos de Matanzas, the month of October if full of celebration. It was on that month, in 1693, that the city was officially founded. This year, however, it was more special than ever thanks to the herculean efforts of the Conservator’s Office and its many workers, who have restored the historical part of the city to its colonial splendor and glamour.



Front cover of Revista Matanzas, where our article is featured

In celebration of this historical moment, albeit local and personal, we contributed with a small publication on the local magazine Matanzas. In it, we published a small piece on Matanzas's first coat of arms. Unknown until now was the revelation that the governor Severino de Manzaneda, who founded de city in October 1693, had provided the city with an official coat of arms since 1694, which was approved by the crown in 1698, but unfortunately forgotten by local and crown officials until 1828, when the colonial shield was redesigned.



Colonial Coat of Arms given by the Spanish Crown to the city of Matanzas, 1828,
Courtesy of the Archivo General de Indias.

Although this may seem trivial, the coat of arms of Matanzas has been seen as a unifying symbol, first of its relationship to the Spanish crown and then to the Republic. More interestingly, it was previously unreported or unknown by local and national historians. Thus, this little note added a little piece of history, which was lost amongst the old archive papers in Seville, providing a different hue to our local history's color. Moreover, it adds to the poorly studied Cuban and Novohispanic heraldry.

That article can be accessed for free here. Other posts on Matanzas history can be accessed here.

Stay tuned for more updates on fossils and old documents!

Article can be sited as:

Orihuela León, J., R. A. Viera Muñoz & L. Pérez Orozco (2018). El blasón desconocido: Primer escudo de San Carlos de Matanzas. Revista Matanzas XIX (1/2): 7-11.

Featured article: Clay Tobacco Pipes from a Colonial Refuse Deposit in Fort San Severino, Matanzas Province, Cuba

Hello blog readers, here I provide a link to our article "Clay Tobacco Pipes from a Colonial Refuse Deposit in Fort San Severino, Matanzas Province, Cuba" published on the International Journal of Historical Archaeology, which Spinger Nature has kindly allowed us to share.

This article deals with the identification of clay tobacco pipes used for smocking by prisoners and soldiers of the fort's garrison between the late XVIII and through the middle XIX century. This small collection of smocking pipes, as personal portable objects, speak volumes to the pastime activities available at the fort. More so, it provides a small window into the origin and circulation of pipes.

Visit the link below to read more!

https://rdcu.be/6hvK

Stay tuned!