Travel:

Castle San Felipe del Morro
(El Morro)

Walking Tour: Lower Level

article and photos by Russ Lockwood



19. If you go down this ramp, you will be inside the oldest structure of El Morro. This round turret-style tower was built at the base of the natural promontory in 1539. Only large enough to accommodate four small cannons, the original tower was swallowed up inside thicker walls when El Morro expanded. The 13-inch shell fragment you see high on the ceiling dates from the 1898 bombardment of San Juan by the US Navy. The stairs connect the tower to the water battery.

MagWeb CEO Russ Lockwood -- 6 feet tall -- stands at the base of the wall for scale. Long way up! Note the casemate opening at the top middle of the photo. The photo at the bottom of this page was taken from one of these.

20. Enlisted men had their living quarters in these vaulted rooms. In battle, cannons would be emplaced to fire out to sea from these casemates. Under the artillery ramp you see vaults for storage, a blacksmith's forge for cannon repairs, a kitchen, and latrines.

21. This circular staircase was used to supply powder and shots from the lower level to guns above on the Santa Barbara battery.

22. Cannon emplacements where Ordenez (breech loading) cannon were mounted can be seen here. They had a range of approximately five miles and were used around the 1870s.

23. The triangular staircase leads back to the main plaza, and the end of the tour. Please be very careful while ascending this staircase. The steps are quite steep, and are not recommended for use by the elderly or the very young.




Photo taken from the casemate high above the Santa Barbara Battery. The stairway leading from the battery to the lower level is NOT the artillery ramp, although you can just see the end of the ramp to the left of the the top of the stairway, just above the half an arch.

The island across the entrance to San Juan Bay at the top left of the photo contained Fort San Juan de la Cruz (El Canuelo). The two forts caught any ships trying to enter the bay in a crossfire, as the tugboat opportunely demonstrates as it heads for port.

Castle San Felipe del Morro (El Morro) San Juan, Puerto Rico

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