You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Spanish. (January 2021) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Spanish Wikipedia article at [[:es:Fuerte de Buenos Aires]]; see its history for attribution.
You may also add the template {{Translated|es|Fuerte de Buenos Aires}} to the talk page.
Spanish fortress of the city of Buenos Aires during the colonial period
Fuerte de Buenos Aires
Watercolor depicting El Fuerte and the playa baja, painting by Emeric Essex Vidal (in 1816), note that the Argentine flag was already flying at that time. The territory of the playa baja was filled in at the end of the 19th century and corresponds to the current Puerto Madero.
The Fort of Buenos Aires was a fortress destined to defend Buenos Aires and to be the seat of the Spanish colonial authorities in the city. Its construction began in 1595 and after several refurbishments it was finished only at the beginning of the 18th century, being demolished in 1882. It received the name of Real Fortaleza de Don Juan Baltasar de Austria (Royal Fortress of Don Juan Baltasar of Austria), and in the 17th century it was called Castillo de San Miguel Arcángel del Buen Ayre.[1]
It was located on the banks of the Río de la Plata, which at that time was less than a hundred meters from the Plaza de Mayo. It occupied the same site that today occupies the Casa Rosada, seat of the executive power of the Argentine Republic. It had a stone wall, with a moat surrounding it, a drawbridge over the square, with bastions in its corners with cannons and interior buildings.
Acarette du Biscay, a French traveler, described it thus in 1658:
...[the city] has a small earthen fort overlooking the river encircled by a moat and mounts ten iron cannons being the largest caliber of twelve. The governor resides there and the garrison is composed of only 150 men in three companies, commanded by three captains appointed by the governor at his pleasure..."
— 1658.
History
The Fort of Buenos Aires was built by order of the governor Fernando de Zárate, being designated with the name of Real Fortaleza de Don Juan Baltasar de Austria.[2] Its construction began towards the middle of 1590s, in the land where the Government House is currently located. Originally the fortress had been raised for the defense of the city against possible incursions by pirates, was also the residence of the authorities of Buenos Aires.[3]
During the early 17th century, no major modifications were made to the structure of the Fort of Buenos Aires, being completely modified towards the year 1708, when the colonial authorities hired the Captain engineer José Bermúdez, who endowed the fort with a fortified wall.[5] In 1725, the fort was modified again, this time by the engineer Domingo Petrarca.[6]
Towards the middle of the 18th century, the Fort of Buenos Aires continued with the renovations, carried out by the Spanish engineer of British descent, Don Juan Bartolomé Howell.[7] And later by the engineer Carlos Cabrer, who built a Chapel for the Viceroys.[8]
In 1826, the President Bernardino Rivadavia, made important improvements in the Buenos Aires fort, including an iron gate to replace the rudimentary wooden gate.[11]
