A visit to the Castle of San Felipe

Before, during and after the Spanish Conquest the sea and rivers have always been an important channel of distribution.

The economy of several countries was in fact tied to how fast, easy and safe you could transport your new products.

Spain was aware of the new market opportunities and products that only America had. This meant money and power... but the pirates knew this and were totally willing to take advantage of it.

Izabal was a key region for the transport and storage of goods, or the ships in particular. Lake Izabal was of very high importance as it was big enough to hold ships before sending them to the open sea via Rio Dulce.

The security of this channel was compromised and the pirates began to steal the products and attacking ships, so right at one of Rio Dulce strategic spots the San Felipe Castle was built to guard and protect the ships. It was equipped with canons to attack any hostile ship.

Castillo de San Felipe and its conflicts

Building the castle was not the end of problems. It was built around 1604 and consisted basically on a vigilance tower named The Tower of Bustamante.

The construction continued so the Castle was completed and named San Felipe in honor to the king Felipe II, its cannons took part in several pirate attacks, in fact constantly.

The structure was damaged many times and was totally destroyed too.

The Castle was rebuilt and abandoned by the year 1855.

Now the castle is a very visited destination capturing the imagination of tourist with the weapons, cannons, vigilance tower and the prison inside.

What to expect at the Castle?

• Boat rides
• A beautiful architecture
• Captivating corridors and prison inside the Castle
• Tour guides explaining the history of the place
• A set of ancient objects used at the Spanish Conquest
• Great meals on the local restaurants
• There are several hotels from cheap to luxurious around Izabal Town for you to stay
  

How to get to *El Castillo de San Felipe*

Take the CA9 road named *Carretera al Atlantico*. You will reach *El Rancho* and after an hour and a half a fork to Zacapa-Chiquimula and Izabal. Take the turn to the left going to Izabal.

After this the next turn is again to the left at the *Ruidosa* taking you to the road to Peten. you'll reach the Bridge of Rio Dulce and after this, take the next turn to the left, is clearly marked on the road.

There's no way on getting lost from this point and you'll reach directly to the Castle.

The complete drive from Guatemala City is about 4 hours.

On a bus: you can take one of the luxury buses services departing from Guatemala City such as Linea Dorada.