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| Front entrance of Fuerte de San Pedro |
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Built in 1565 in the pier area of the Cebu City by Spanish and indigenous Cebuano labourers under the command of conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi, Fuerte de San Pedro served as the nucleus of the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines. The fort is triangular in shape, with two sides facing the sea and the third side fronting the land. The two sides facing the sea were defended with artillery and the front with a strong palisade made of wood. The three bastions were named La Concepción; Ignacio de Loyola, and San Miguel. The walls are 6.1m high by 2.4m thick, and the towers are 9.1m high from the ground level. Fourteen cannons were mounted in their emplacements most of which are still there today.
After the battle of Manila Bay, Commodore George Dewey turned the fort to the local Cebuanos; then it became a part of the American Warwick Barracks during the American Regime which was later converted into classrooms where the Cebuanos received formal education. During WWII it served as fortification for Japanese soldiers, when the battle for liberation was fought, the fort served as an army camp. After 1950, Cebu Garden Club took over and fixed the inner court into a miniature garden. For a couple of years it also housed the Cebu City Zoo. At present, it is under the care and administration of the National Museum, a historical park.
About the stamps
The stamps are part of a huge set of definitive stamps (tens of values), appeared in successive series since 2009. About this set, called Marine Biodiversity, I wrote here.
References
Fort San Pedro - Wikipedia
Fort San Pedro - On and Around Malapascua
Sender: Pompilian Tofilescu
Sent from Cebu (Central Visayas / Philippines), on 05.02.2015
Photo: Daniel Carpentier
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