Baluarte Mano de Tigre

Take a few steps beyond Plaza Herrera to see a bit of remaining wall from the colonial fortifications that once protected San Felipe, another name for the Casco Viejo neighborhood. The stones still mark the edge of this neighborhood and now protect a small planting of pretty flowers. Known as the Baluarte (bastion) Mano de Tigre, the once-imposing walls were first erected at the end of the 17th century to protect a people whose city had just been destroyed by pirates and were strengthened and thickened over the next several years. In the early 20th century, the fortifications were completely destroyed except for one wall, and the neighborhood felt secure enough from piracy to leave the bastions down.