The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-03-28
OLD MORRO'S HISTORY.
HAS SEEN BATTLE AND sEIGE FOR
MORE THAN FOUR CENTURIES.
Meats Dug Out of the Rockets
DrawbridEe and POrtcuIIis-BuiIt
Before the Year 16OO-Besieged by
Lord AIbPmurIP.

MOnts Dug Out of the Rockets
Drawbridge and PortcuIIis-BuiIt
Before the Year 16OO-Besfeged by
Lord AIbemnrIe.
Havana Letter in Philadelphia Ledger.
The first sight that greets the trav-
eler to Havana as he comes into port
is MORO Castle; the last thing which
ne sees on leaving is MORO Castle, and
it and its neighbor Cabana Fortress
are the places that he has in mind to
visit. whatever other points of interest
may have escaped his notice.
The MORO is a pretty sight as the
ship comes in from the restless and Of
ten storm-tossed gulf to the quiet bay;
the entrance to the bay is so narrow
that ships pass very near the rocks on
which the fertilization stands thus
giving an excellent exterior view At
all times it is an attractive picture, but
especially in the spring, when the bril-
liam scarlet blossoms of the namboy-
ant trees at it's foot stand out against
the gray rock and masonry Again. in
winter. when storms are dashing the
FSNC AAA5AA up Oll It's walls. OF even Oh
the light itself, the view is a magnifi-
cent one-but that is the time when
neither ingoing or outgoing traveller
appreciates it; only those on dry land
can do that. one of the most beauti-
full views sold in Havana is a photo
graph of the waves dashing over the
light as they do in particularly severe
storms.
The rocks on which the MORO stands
are becoming undermined by water,
not enough to impair its stability, but
still the water goes In and out, and
many shark finds a refuge under the
shelving lodges. Centuries hence, long
after the castle shall have fallen into
decay and stand as ruins-if indeed ev-
cry vestige of it shall not have been
swept away-the shore line may be
changed at this point by the crumbling
away of rocks.
Ancient Cuban Landmark.
1t is a massive piece of work, and
stands as one of the many links which
connect Cuba's present with her past.
Travellers look at it with something
akin to awe, since it has Withstood the
flight of centuries-how many they
know not. They ask each other and
the natives when it was built; what
its history has been. The guide book
tells a little. and the human guides
add some details which have come to
their knowledge, but the information
is far from complete.
Anything which has stood in our
own country for an entire century is
old; had we anything with the authen-
tic date of l589-the date which MORO
bears-it would seem worthy of the
highest veneration. 1t was in the year
mentioned that the plans of this forth
fiP9fiOn traced nv 20 FOR
engineer Juan Antonelli. It's purpose
was not so much one of defense against
attack from other countries as against
pirates all of the other Notifications,
including the city wall, We're built for
the same reason. Before their erection
the citizens had built rude defenses
and had patroled the coast to guard
against surprises. Bitter experience
had taught them the need of these
measures since pirates often ravaged
the coast during the sixteenth century,
and the seventeenth century saw so
little diminutiOn in their depredations
that the wall was considered neces-
sary.
The high, rocky point at the narrow
entrance of the bay was an admirable
site for strong fertilization, and the
one planned by Antonelli was brought
to a successful completion. 1t is an
excellent example of medieval fort
ress. with it's deep meats blasted out
of the solid rock. it's drawbridge and
pOrtcullis; the upper works, though old.
are of somewhat more recent date. Fin
ished before 1900 the heaviest strain
did not come upon it for almost two
centuries. In the wall of the upper
part near the angle where the sea
meets the land Is a tablet whose in
Scription tells that il was erected to