El Castillo
El Castillo ("the castle" in Spanish) may refer to:
El Castillo (municipality)
El Castillo is a municipality located on the Río San Juan (San Juan River) in the Río San Juan Department of Nicaragua. The settlement of what would eventually become the municipality of El Castillo began in 1673, when construction of the Fortaleza de la Limpia Pura e Inmaculada Concepción, (now known as the Castillo de la Inmaculada Concepción, or Fortress of the Immaculate Conception) was begun. The village of El Castillo eventually grew around the fortress, which continued to be strategically important to the Captaincy General of Guatemala until the late 18th century.
The administrative capital of the municipality of El Castillo is the village of Boca de Sábalos, which translates from Spanish to "mouth of the tarpon" (Megalops atlanticus). Boca de Sábalos is located 350 kilometers from the national capital of Managua, 55 kilometers downriver from the departmental capital of San Carlos and several kilometers upriver from the village of El Castillo.
History
The municipality of El Castillo began with the construction of the Fortress of the Immaculate Conception on the southern bank of the San Juan River, approximately 6 kilometers from the present-day border with Costa Rica. This was part of a series of fortifications built along the San Juan River in order to defend against pirate attacks upon the city of Granada (which can be reached by navigating upstream from the Caribbean Sea along the San Juan River into Lake Nicaragua). Construction of the fortress, initially named Fortaleza de la Limpia Pura e Inmaculada Concepción (now known as the Castillo de la Inmaculada Concepción, or Fortress of the Immaculate Conception), was begun on March 10, 1673 and completed in 1675. The chosen site was the site of the present-day village of El Castillo. Despite the construction of the fortress, buccaneer William Dampier plundered the city and set it on fire on April 8, 1685.
El Castillo (village)
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El Castillo is a village of about 1500 people situated on the southern bank of the Río San Juan (San Juan River) in southern Nicaragua. It is one of 27 comarcas of the municipality of El Castillo, a subdivision of the Río San Juan Department. The village is situated approximately 6 kilometers from the border with Costa Rica, at the Raudal del Diablo rapids of the San Juan River. The site on which the village of El Castillo is built was initially established in 1673 as a Spanish fortification to defend against pirate attacks upon the city of Granada (which can be reached by navigating upstream from the Caribbean Sea along the San Juan River into Lake Nicaragua). The settlement of El Castillo and its fortress continued to be strategically important to the Captaincy General of Guatemala until the late 18th century.
History
By the late 17th century, the success of the city of Granada had made it a victim of pirate attacks. The most notable of these was in 1670 by the pirate Gallardino, who approached the city from Lake Nicaragua after navigating up the treacherous San Juan River from the Caribbean Sea. Gallardino's successful 1670 raid on Granada emphasized the need for a more effective defense of Nicaragua, and it was obvious to the Spanish colonial authorities that they would have to construct a series of fortifications along the San Juan River in order to protect the citizens of Granada from future attacks.
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