15.12.2008 - Callao: The Real Felipe Fortress

After we finally had all the papers and we decided our wedding day on that day, my husband and I went to visit the Real Felipe Fortress, which is situated near the Offices where we were arranging all the papers. The day was nice and sunny so it was perfect for a visit to the Fortress, we passed by so many times and never had the chance to visit. But that day, we decided to spent a really nice time visiting the Fortress. There were only a small group of tourist awaiting the guide to take us around the Fortress, which takes approx. 2 hours.

The Real Felipe Fortress in Callao

The Fortress was built between the years 1747 and 1778. It has an extension of 70 thousand m2, it was made of masonry (mixture of sand, lime and guano-producing seabirds' white egg)in accordance with French Luis Godin design, to defend Callao from pirates and corsairs. The Fortress it is also known as "Castle of Callao" and it is the biggest military construction made by the Spaniards in America. In 1866, during the battle of "Dos de mayo" (May 2nd) it became the country's main defencein the armed confrontation against Spain.
The Fortress keep fascinating stories from different periods of the Peruvian military history. Inside the Fortress the guide take you to visit the Artilery Park, the Knight of Twelve Cannons, the Governor's house, the House of the Answers, the Queen's Tower and the King's Tower, it displays various objects (uniforms and weapon of the Peruvian militia). Today it is the Peruvian Army Museum.

The Artillery Park (Parque de la Artilleria)

The Artillery Park displays cannons used by the Peruvian Army in different historic periods. Amongst some of the models shown, there are 75-mm Schneider cannons (French manufacture), 20 and 30-mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns (Swedish), 40-mm Bofor multi-purpose artillery, 105-mm M-3 North-American howitzer, 20-mm automatic Breda cannons, etc.


The Knight of Twelve Cannons (El Caballero de los Doce Canones)

The Cannons were an element of the Real Felipe's defensive system. Like the fortified towers, it had the mission to become an impenetrable fort in case of enemy's occupation, which would be counterattacked from here.
Located on the upper part of the Governor's House, obviously for defense, it has 12 cannons, pointing to the four sides, it had three lines of retreat, each one with cannons pointing at possible invaders.


The Museum of Ancient Weapons (Oploteca)
This space used for the Museum of ancient weapons was originally known as cistern and water deposit. It stored water to satisfy the needs of the Fortress for a period of several weeks, as it had a filling-water system from the surrounding pit.


Currently the Museum keeps the collection of portable weapons of the Army Museum. In the first room , we can see handguns and revolvers which used muzzleloading and sparkling system up to the semi-automatic modern ones. In the second room we can see the development of the long weapons such as rifles and carabines and in the third room, we can see the accompanying weapons: machine guns, grenade launchers and mortars.


The Governor's House (La casa del Gobernador)

The Governor's house was destined to give accomodation to the office in comand of the Fortress. It is located beneath the Knight of Twelve Cannons; it had the Spanish kings coat of armes carved on its fromnt, but when General Don Jose de Sam Martin took over the Fortress, he ordered to erase it. Later, he decided that it was better if it remained as a memory of the job that was done.
In the Governor's house we can find references to different periods, starting with the native army of the Incas Empire; then the colony, eminent people and precurors or the independence and the heroes of the republican army, as well as the patrons of each weapon and speciality of the Peruvian Army.

the entrance in the Governor's House

the chapel inside the Governor's house

Inside the house it is possible to see also:




The House of the Answers (Casa de la Respuesta)

The House of the Answers is a replica of the front part of the existing house located in Arica (today, the Peruvian Consulate) which in the year 1880 served as a headquarters of the Peruvian troops in charge of the defence of that city. In the House we find a copy of the Board of officers called by Francisco Bolognesi in the morning of June 5th, 1880, known as the "Day of the Response": Tell your officer in command that I have a sacred duty to fulfill, Arica does not surrender, I feel proud of my men and we will fight until we burn the last round."

On one side of the House of Answers we can find the Monument to the Unknown Soldier, which pays tribute to all soldiers who have given their lives for their homeland in the various wars of our history. It is represented by a soldier of the time of the war against Ecuador (1941) and as its identity remains unknown, it does not have a face.


The Queen's and the King Tower (El Torreon de la Reina y el Torreon del Rey)

The King's Tower

The Qeens Tower was considered as part of the defensive scheme of Real Felipe, similar to the King's Tower, it was a Fortress inside a fortress. The fortified towers had two missions; they were the strong poits to the concentration of the artillery that was able to shoot at 360 degrees of direction and at the same time they could isolate from the rest of the Fortress. In case the enemies got inside the main area, the fortified towers closed their doors and lifted their access bridges, and then they were able to continue their fights against the attackers and move them out. For this purpose the Queen's tower was equipped with ammunition deposits, provisions and it even had its own water well (which contains water still nowadays).
One of the most interesting detail is the dangeon. It has a semi cirular shape, where the prisoners could hardly stand up and they had to spend all the time in utter darkness. In the middle of the semi circle there was the room of the Guards, with small holes to listen to any comment made by the prisoners and to take advantage of such information. The holes had a special round shape to avoid the entrance of the light and people could not realize that they were beign heard.
At the beginning the Queen's Tower has two levels with cannon platforms, however it was modified at the time of the war against Chile (1879 - 1883), to defend the port of Callao., so the upper level was eliminated and four platforms were prepared to host revolving cannons. On of them still exists in the Museum.

The King's tower had three levels (base, supporting pilar and baywindow), and there are cannon platforms in two of them, the first one has 24 iron cannons and the second one has 8 brass cannons.
It has all the services that made possible to resist in case the fortress was attacked. The access bridge can be raised,so that once it is lifted, it is almost impossible to reach the door. The internal construction has a labyrinth shape to confound those who tried to get inside.
At the time fo the war with Chile the tower was modified, the upper levels were eliminated, two platforms were mounted to host revolving cannons. Time and the earthquakes that took place in the past ruined it, nevertheless it has been recently restored to its original shape.
From the King's tower it is possible to see the two isles, one used as a prison, and the seaside.

Nowadays the Castle is a manor base of the Peruvian Army and a Museum. Some areas are still under construction, as they are going to extend the Museum.
The text about the Fortress was found in the leaflet about the Fortress that the visitors receive when visiting the fortress. For more information visit the page:
http://www.regioncallao.gob.pe

29.11.2008 - Visit to the center of Lima

While we were arranging the papers for our marriage, me and my now spouse, were wondering around the centre of Lima and doing some tourism. After I received my papers legalized from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Lima, we visited some interesting places and buildings. I am not a church person, but churches here are architecturally very interesting, both from inside and outside.

inside of the Church of Senor de los milagros, La Nazarena

This is how the Church of Senor de los Milagros, known as la Nazarena, looks like:

It looks really great. And below is the image of the Senor de los milagros that is celebrated in the month of October.

Senor de los milagros

The month October is dedicated to the Senor de los milagros, and usually women wear a drees in dark purple colour for the entire month as a sign of devotion. People here are for the most catholics, but they are part of different churches. I saw so many churches that I cannot even count them. It is a usual practice to have in the house a corner where to put Mother Mary or the image of Jesus and to light a candle. This custom means that you show your devotion and respect to the saints and besides you ask for protection. It is also custom to light the candle near the image of someone that has passed away as I sign that you remember them and pray for them. My husband does so every night. At the beginning it looked strange to me, but I get used to it and now is something perfectly normal.
In the theme of Churches and their stories, below is the Church of Father Urraca, who is said that faught against the devil and passed threw the wall and won of course.

Church of Father Urraca

Apart from interesting churches with their particular stories, the city center is interesting also for his balconies that embellish old buildings.



I like the colours of the houses as well, they really give a different touch to the city life. The city centre is also picturesque, I like the yellow colour of the buildings near the main square, Plaza de Armas.

Near the Govern Palace there is a Train station, but it is not used. It remembers the main train station in my country in Ljubljana.

The train station in Lima

Near the train station there is the Giron Ancash, a street where you can find interesting shops with artesanal products of the country. We took a photo to make them a little publicity.



The shops look really interesting and colourful and the products are of high quality, one can find nice gifts to give back home to friends and family. I don't like the usual souvenirs, better something than one can use.
Another interesting part to visit in the city centre is the antique wall built as a defensive structure and the first housing of the city, that are visited by schools mainly, because they are part of the history of the city and of the country.



From this part where the wall stands it is possible to see the favelas near the city. They look nice because the municipality had them painted and connected the electricity, because before that they didn't have electricity.

San Cristobal seen in the background

The city is full of contrasts, from nice parts of the city to poor parts of the city, like this one.
We ended our one day trip visiting this little nice corner of the city, which captured my attention for the colours and for the history of this part of the city.

Hospicio para Mujeres Vergonzantes - Hospice for Shamefaced Women,
A ladies' hostel that the civil wars and the war with Chile impoverished.
The statue in front of the building is of the father Binthillac, the founder
of the Pontificia Universidad Católica of Perú.

Church Recoleta at the French square (Plaza Francia)
In the square it is situated also the the commemorative badge
to the French admiral Bergasse du Petit Thouars,
for his participation in the defense of Lima during
the Chilean occupation in 1880.