Called this way to honor Spanish King Carlos III. It began to be built in 1763, under the direction of the military engineer Silvestre Abarca. He got up on the high bank of the Port of Havana, an area that had been defenseless until that moment. At the end of its construction, in 1774, it was the largest Spanish fortress built in America.
It is stated that already in the 16th century, the engineer Juan Bautista Antonelli, builder of El Morro had warned the authorities of the Island about the strategic value of the hill of the Cabaña. Nevertheless, the hill remained unprotected and was the breach that the English troops took advantage of, in 1762, to attack El Morro and later to render Havana. After that event, King Charles III ordered the immediate fortification of that high bank, which was entrusted to the military engineer Silvestre Abarca.
The strategic position of the fortress, linked with that of El Morro, and the ten hectares that occupied with more than 700 meters of wall, made it the largest of the Island and America. Its complex design applies the most advanced concepts of military engineering of the eighteenth century and makes San Carlos de la Cabaña an exponent of the change experienced in defensive systems at the time.
Its military capacity was great and so was the armament it had. In 1859 it had 120 guns and bronze howitzers of different calibers. It is estimated that in 1863 the military equipment could be 245 pieces of artillery, in addition to other light weapons of short reach.
Since its construction, La Cabaña housed the elite units of the Spanish army in Cuba. During the wars of independence, it served as a prison, and its moat was a site for firing squad. In the twentieth century, the defensive character disappeared, the fortress served as warehouse, troops housing and prison. At the triumph of the Revolution, it was occupied by the commander Ernesto Guevara, who established his command there.
The restoration works began in 1986, in a coordinated effort between the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana to create the Morro Cabaña Military Historical Park.
In 1992, after the restoration, the Museum of Arms, the Museum of the Command of Che, and a Monographic Museum were opened, describing the history of the fort. In addition, since then, its spaces have hosted cultural events such as the Biennial of Visual Arts in Havana and the International Book Fair of Havana.
The Cabaña plant has a main body, composed of two extreme semibaluartes (San Francisco and San Lorenzo) and a central bastion (San Ambrosio), joined by curtains to land. Towards the port it presents a massive escarpment; It is surrounded by a colossal moat with two lunettes and two pincers. The façade has an arched opening, covered from the start, and framed by attached columns that support an entablature decorated with masks.
In the inside part, of monumental scale, the place of arms and the barracks, with ramps and streets of circulation for the troops. At one end of the western quarter is the chapel, with an elegant front, which contrasts with the bare walls of the whole. Almost at the water level, very close to the west end of the fortress, the battery of the Divina Pastora, prior to the construction of La Cabaña, is conserved.