Batería de la Reina

Batería de la Reina
Batería de la Reina
	Batería de la Reina
General information
Status	Demolished
Type	Defensive structure
Architectural style	Fortress
Location	Next to Caleta de San Lazaro
Town or city	Havana
Country	Cuba
Coordinates	23°08′31″N 82°22′17″W / 23.141832°N 82.371513°WCoordinates: 23°08′31″N 82°22′17″W / 23.141832°N 82.371513°W
Groundbreaking	ca. 1856
Estimated completion	1661
Destroyed	ca. 1900
Dimensions
Diameter	100 metres (330 ft)
Technical details
Structural system	Load bearing
Material	Brick
Floor count	1
Known for	44 pieces of artillery

Batería de la de la Reina built between 1856 y 1861, was a colonial military defense fortress that had accommodations for a garrison of 250 men and 44 pieces of artillery. It was demolished in 1901. Its site was in the esplanade that today occupies the Antonio Maceo park, directly in front in front of the La Casa de Beneficencia y Maternidad de La Habana orphanage and the Hospital de San Lázaro, opposite Marcos Lucio's Torreón de San Lázaro and next to the Caleta de San Lazaro, ^[1] The fortification consisted of a semi-circular building with a 44-gun battery facing the sea. Its fires intersected with those of the Santa Clara Battery - where the Hotel Hotel Nacional de Cuba is currently located - and the “Castillo de la Punta”.^[1]

EcuRed writes: "The historical richness of the territory is incalculable through the times, dates from the sixteenth century, when the French corsair Jacques de Sores, on 10 July 10, 1555, penetrated through the cove of Juan Guillen (later Caleta de San Lazaro) between the Torreón de San Lázaro and the Parque Maceo, who took, looted and burned Villa de San Cristobal de La Habana, which was defended by Mayor Juan de Lobera. The Cabildo of September 26, 1664, determined to build a fortress next to the cove, one league from the Villa. He himself served as a lookout by placing a lit torch to warn of the presence of an enemy ship. Today, this monument represents the Municipality of Centro Habana. On July 26, 1912, the Cayo Hueso part of Barrio de San Lázaro was officially recognized as a neighborhood."^[2]

Demolition[]

Batería de La Reina.1 demolition, 1900

Showing the coral stone quarry adjacent to the Espada Cemetery in the Barrio de San Lázaro.

In 1898 this battery was the main communications center on the Sotavento seafront, for which reason it had been equipped with rangefinders, telegraphs, telephones, and numerous means of observation. At the end of the Spanish-Cuban-American war, the fortification lost its function, at the beginning of the 20th century, its dismantling and later its demolition began.^[1] The dates suggest that its demolition was linked to the building of the Malecon (1901), because the presence of this fortification blocked the passage of the Malecon through this area. The rubble from this demolition was used to fill the Caleta de San Lazaro.^[1]