The 794 foot elevation of this hill overlooking Cartagena and its harbor has made it an ideal location for sentries since the Middle Ages. In Spanish, the name of the mount and fortress is Atalaya meaning watchtower. Fuerte de la Atalaya was built in 1777 during the massive fortification of Cartagena ordered by Spanish King Carlos III. The citadel is shaped as an isosceles trapezoid. The design includes six bastions. The castle rises to an altitude of 242 meters above sea level and was built following the parameters of the eclectic neoclassicism of the French-speaking Spanish School.
Its plan is constituted as an isosceles trapezoid, with five bastions for each of its vertices plus another addition in the southern part, and surrounded by a moat with its corresponding counterscarp with fencing except in the sector facing the city. The entrance to the fortress is located in the central bastion of the southern part. Once through the door, there is access to a lobby, which through a missing drawbridge led to the esplanade on the first floor. It is on this level where the vaulted rooms where the garrison lived, the battlements that protected the artillerymen from enemy fire and a cistern are located. Finally, an also lost spiral staircase led to the roof.
You can visit Atalaya Castle. However, reaching it can be challenging and much of the structure is in poor condition.
