This wealth soon invited pirate attacks. In defense of the city, King Felipe II ordered a protective wall be built around the city. The streets were made narrow and crooked, designed for protection during assault.

Cartagena was victim to five sieges during the 16^th century. The most famous led by Sir francis Drake in 1586. He made it into the harbor, but accepted a 10 million peso ransom for not burning the city.

Spain then redoubled its effort to fortify Cartagena, and this is when the massive stone wall around the Old City was constructed. This wall successful. Cartagena was able to defend herself in 1741 when the English attacked led by Lawrence Washington, the half brother of our first president, George Washington. Many forts were built to defend the city. The two that guarded the bay were San Fernando and San Jose. A massive chain stretched between the forts kept pirate vessels from easily entering the harbor.

The small doorway that the tourists are using in the background of the picture above leads to a long dark corridor through the massive fort wall. The corridor has many branches to allow access to different parts of the fort and niches where defenders could hide to waylay any unwanted intruders.

Towering over all of the smaller forts is this huge fort. Its full name is San Felipe de Barajas.
135 feet above sea level, it was begun in 1657, captured and destroyed by the French in 1697.
Rebuilt between 1762 and 1769, it remains an impressive structure in Cartagena.

When they rebuilt the fort they made it much stronger than the original.
These massive walls give us a feeling of how well this fort could be defended against a siege.

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