Lima, Peru The Real Felipe Fortress in Lima is the greatest Colonial-era fortress on the entire west coast of South America. It might even be argued that it is the greatest fortress in the Eastern Pacific. This is due in no small part to Lima’s isolation on the far side of Panama, which insulated Peru from the colonial wars and pirate attacks which ravaged the Caribbean Sea … [Read more...]
CARTAGENA FORTIFICATIONS (FORT SAN FILIPE, FORT SAN SEBASTIAN, CITY WALLS)
Cartagena, Colombia The Port of Cartagena in Colombia was among the most strategic Spanish cities in the New World. It was considered so important, in fact, that the Spanish built not one but two of their largest colonial fortresses here: Fort San Felipe De Barajas and Fort San Sebastian De Pastelillo. From the 17th century onward these two fortifications and the fleets … [Read more...]
SACSAYHUAMAN FORTRESS
Cuzco, Peru The walls of Sacsayhuaman in the hills overlooking the city of Cuzco are the largest surviving remains of any pre-Colombian fortification in the Americas. Based on the descriptions of Spanish conquistadors, Sacsayhuaman was once an immenst complex which included palaces, temples towers and a labyrinthine defensive system. Although picked over for centuries for … [Read more...]
KAHAL ZUR ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE MUSEUM
Recife, Brazil Brazil was home to both the first clandestine Jewish communites and the first openly Jewish communities in the New World. The former arrived as refugees from Portugal at the beginning of the 16th century, the latter as colonists from the Netherlands at the beginning of the 17th century. Brazil was the mother colony of Judaism in the Americas, and it was from … [Read more...]
STATUE OF CHRIST THE REDEEMER
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil The nation of Brazil boasts the world’s largest Catholic population it as well as the world’s most famous Catholic icon: the Statue of Christ the Redeemer. Standing upon the crown of Corcovado Mountain overlooking Rio de Janeiro, the statue has become the most recognized and famous symbol of Christianity in all of Latin America. So spectacular is the … [Read more...]
BASILICA OF APARECIDA
Aparecida, Brazil The country of Brazil, the most populous in Latin America, is home to the world’s largest population of Catholics. With more than one hundred and twenty million, Brazil is home to over one in every ten Catholics worldwide. It is not surprising that such a large populace would come up with many of its own religious traditions and sacred places. The … [Read more...]
CATHEDRAL OF SANTA MARIA LA MENOR
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic The city of Santo Domingo and the Cathedral of Santa Maria La Menor is honored throughout the Americas as the birthplace of Christianity in the New World. Although a Catholic site, it also predated any significant Protestant settlements in the Americas by many years. For a while the city of Santo Domingo served as the headquarters of the … [Read more...]