Fuerte-Batería de San José

This guide to the Fuerte-Batería de San José in Cartagena opens with a puzzle: after British admiral Edward Vernon flattened Bocachica's main castle in 1741, why did the engineers rebuilding it choose to crouch low at the waterline instead of building higher? It follows the argument between engineers Sala and Bautista MacEvan over the answer, and the eventual construction under royal engineer Antonio de Arévalo between 1759 and 1779, with its bomb-proof vaults and rows of gun openings aimed at the channel. Stand close to the embrasures to see just how near the cannons sat to the water.