The Baluarte San Ignacio de Loyola is part of the set of Fortifications of Cartagena de Indias, projected to protect the isthmus of Bocagrande and the Bay of souls.
History of the San Ignacio de Loyola Bastion in Cartagena
Initially it was called bastion of the Moors and it was completed around the year 1630, defending with the Bastion of San Francisco Javier, the Isthmus of Bocagrande and the Bay of Las Animas; In its construction they intervened Christopher de Roda and Francisco de Murga between 1617 and 1630, who carried out the works with a blunt barbette parapet, according to the project carried out by Bautista Antonelli in 1595.
On the old curtain that joined it with the Bastion of San Francisco Javier, the school of the Company of Jesus was built years later, unleashing a conflict since they arbitrarily opened some doors in the escarpment, endangering the square; Juan de Somovilla In 1656 he planned the advancement of this square front (Baluartes San Ignacio de Loyola and San Francisco Javier), but the work suffers setbacks and the conflict is resolved between 1720 and 1730 when Herrera and Sotomayor reforms the front of the square and builds a wall curtain parallel to the previous one, providing it with a baroque gariton, wide flooring, irregular floor plan and access ramp, leaving a street called the Paso de la Ronda Militar (Calle de la Ronda) attached to the bastion of Barahona by a stockade.
(Learn about the History of the Clock Tower, one of the most important fortifications in Cartagena)
At the end of the 18th century, the engineer Antonio de Arevalo carried out some conditioning works that gave it its definitive appearance until the beginning of the 20th century, when the monument to the flag, which added a staircase and cement vases. The restoration carried out in 1969 by the Ministry of Public Works returned the bastion to its past splendor, replacing its parapets, recovering the esplanade, rebuilding the tendal and uncovering the access ramp.
Where is the Baluarte de San Ignacio de Loyola located?
The Baluarte is located on Avenida de Blas de Lezo, in the center of Cartagena, near the Naval Museum of the Caribbean.
