The story of Fort San Felipe, the pirate proof fortress. Alright kiddo Imagine this A long long time ago well not dinosaur long but still a while back, There were these really cool adventurers called pirates, except uh, they weren't exactly the good guys.

They loved shiny stuff like gold and silver and would take it from anyone who wasn't watching closely enough. Kind of like the original finders keepers crowd but a lot meaner. Now back in the fifteen hundreds, the Spanish had discovered this beautiful island, the Dominican Republic.

They thought Wow This place is amazing. Let's stay and build stuff. But there was one big problem. Py pirates. These guys would sail in on their ships waving their flags and shout things like, hand over your treasure Matey.

Okay They probably didn't actually say Matey but you get the idea. The Spanish were like, Enough is enough. We need a fortress to keep those pesky pirates out. And that's how Fort San Felipe…was born…in fifteen seventy seven. They built it right on the coast of Puerto Plata where they could see anyone coming from the ocean.

The fort was tough as nails, made of stone, and shaped kind of like a giant turtle. Why? A turtle? Because it was low and strong. Pirates could blast their cannons at it all day and it wouldn't budge.

Inside the fort they kept big cannons ready to go. Boom at any ship that got too close. And guess what It worked. The pirates didn't want to mess with Fort San Felipe because they knew they'd get a face full of cannonballs. But wait there's more.

Fort San Felipe wasn't just for pirates. Over the years it became kind of like the Swiss army knife of forts. It was a military base a prison. Yep Some bad guys were locked up there and even a cool lookout spot. Imagine the soldiers standing on the walls eating coconuts and saying, Hey, is that a pirate ship or just a really big log?

Fast forward to today Fort San Felipe is like the grandpa of Puerto Plata. It doesn't fight pirates anymore. Whew. But it's still standing strong watching over the city and telling its stories to visitors. When you go there you can walk around and even see those old cannons.

Don't worry. They don't go boom anymore. So if you ever visit Fort San Felipe, give it a little salute.