La Cabaña Fortress

About this place

La Cabaña is a huge stone fortress on a hill at the entrance to Havana harbour. Long walls of pale stone enclose cobbled lanes between old barracks, an ornate gateway stands over a bridge, and from the ramparts you see Old Havana and the Malecón across the water. The Spanish began building it in 1763 on the orders of King Carlos III, after the British capture of Havana in 1762 exposed the city's weak landward defences. Finished in 1774, it was then the second-largest colonial military complex in the New World and is today the third-largest fortress in the Americas. It stands beside Morro Castle on a 60 m hill and is part of the Old Havana UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed in 1982. You walk the ramparts and courtyards, past old cannons and views of the city. Every night at nine the «cañonazo» ceremony is held, when soldiers in 18th-century uniforms fire a cannon over the harbour, as was once done to mark the closing of the city gates. The fortress is about 1 km in a straight line northeast of Old Havana across the harbour, reached by taxi through the tunnel. The UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to Cuba because of fuel, power and water shortages, so read the current advice before you plan.