| Fort Pilar | |
|---|---|
Real Fuerte de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza | |
.jpg) The Courtyard of Fort Pilar | |
.svg)  Location of Fort Pilar in the Philippines Show map of Philippines Fort Pilar (Mindanao mainland) Show map of Mindanao mainland | |
| Former names | Real Fuerte de San José (Royal Fort of Saint Joseph) |
| Alternative names | Fortaleza del Pilar |
| General information | |
| Type | Fortification |
| Architectural style | Bastioned fort |
| Address | N.S. Valderosa Street |
| Town or city | Zamboanga City |
| Country | Philippines |
| Coordinates | 6°54′4″N122°4′56″E / 6.90111°N 122.08222°E /6.90111; 122.08222 |
| Current tenants | National Museum of the Philippines[1] |
| Groundbreaking | June 23, 1635 |
| Owner | Philippine Government |
| Technical details | |
| Structural system | Masonry |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Father Melchor de Vera (1635) Juan Sicarra (1718) |
TheReal Fuerte de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza (Royal Fort of Our Lady of the Pillar of Saragossa), alsoFort Pilar, is a 17th-century military defense fortress built by theSpanish colonial government inZamboanga City. The fort, which is now a regional museum of theNational Museum of the Philippines, is a major landmark of the city and it symbolize the cultural heritage.
Outside the eastern wall is aMarian shrine dedicated toOur Lady of the Pillar, the patroness of the city, pontifically crowned on 12 October 1960 via decree dating from 18 September 1960.[2]
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In 1635, upon the requests of theJesuit missionaries andBishop Fray Pedro ofCebu, theSpanish governor of the PhilippinesJuan Cerezo de Salamanca (1633–1635) approved the building of a stone fort in defense against pirates and raiders of the sultans of Mindanao andJolo. Thecornerstone of the fort, originally calledReal Fuerte de San José (Royal Fort ofSaint Joseph), was laid by Melchor de Vera, a Jesuit priest-engineer, on June 23, 1635, which also marks the founding of Zamboanga as acity.[3][4]
The construction of the early fort continued within the governorship ofSebastián Hurtado de Corcuera (1635–1644), ex-governor ofPanama. Because of insufficient manpower, laborers fromCavite,Cebu,Bohol, andPanay had to be imported to help the Spaniards, Mexicans and Peruvians in the construction of the fort. This period also marks the beginning of theZamboangueño Chavacano as apidgin that eventually developed into a full-fledgedcreole language forZamboangueños.
Fort San José was attacked by the Dutch in 1646 and was later abandoned by the Spanish troops who went back toManila in 1662 to help fight the Chinese pirateKoxinga who had earlier defeated theDutch. In 1669, the Jesuit missionaries rebuilt the fort after pirates and raiders had again destroyed it.
In 1718–1719, it was rebuilt by the Spaniard engineer Juan Sicarra upon the orders of Spanish Governor GeneralFernando Manuel de Bustillo Bustamante y Rueda and was renamed asReal Fuerte de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza (Royal Fort of Our Lady of the Pillar of Zaragoza) in honor of the patron virgin ofSpain,Our Lady of the Pillar. A year later Dalasi, king of Bulig, and 3,000Moro pirates attacked the fort; the defenders repulsed the attack.
In 1798 the BritishRoyal Navy bombarded the fort but again it proved robust enough to repel the attack. Fort Pilar was the scene of a mutiny of 70 prisoners in 1872.[4]
It was in 1734 when arelief of Our Lady of the Pillar was set above the eastern wall of the fort, making it an outdoor shrine with analtar. According to tradition, theVirgin Mary appeared to a soldier on December 6, 1734, at the gate of the city. The soldier asked her to stop, but on recognizing her, he fell to his knees.
A similar but distinct narrative is described by American Captain John H. McGee, who relayed the story he heard while training soldiers at Fort Pilar, then-called Pettit Barracks.[5] According to that version, while Dutch ships were besieging the fort, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a Spanish soldier and "assured him victory if the beleaguered garrison held out." Accordingly, the shrine was built in commemoration of that event. It is unsure whether these Dutch attacks refer to the1646-1648 Dutch attempts to take the fort.[6]
On September 21, 1897, at 1:14 PM, a strongearthquake struck the western region of Mindanao. TheVirgin Mary allegedly made anapparition, and according to visionaries, they saw the Virgin floating in midair over the Basilan Strait. She had her right hand raised to command the onrushing waves to stop, thus saving the city from atsunami.[7] It is recounted that when anothertsunami-causing earthquake struck the Moro Gulf at midnight on August 19, 1976, Mary was allegedly "once again seen over the sea, protecting people from the disaster."[8]
Following theSpanish–American War, Fort Pilar and its Spanish troops surrendered to theRevolutionary Government of Zamboanga on May 18, 1899, underGeneral Vicente Álvarez, a Zamboangueño, at the onset of thePhilippine Revolution against Spain. On November 19, 1899, the fort was captured by U.S. expeditionary forces.
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DuringWorld War II in 1942, Japanese forces captured and took control of the fort. It was recaptured by the United States and Filipino troops in March 1945 and was finally and officially turned over to the government of the Republic of the Philippines on July 4, 1946.
Fort Pilar was recognized as a National Cultural Treasure on August 1, 1973, by Presidential Decree No. 260,[9] though by then the fort had been in disrepair since World War II. Restoration was started in the early part of 1980 by theNational Museum of the Philippines, which reconstructed three of the four structures inside the fort. After six years of rehabilitation work, the museum branch opened to the public with a special exhibit on Philippine Contemporary Art.[1]
In October 1987, a permanent exhibit on themarine life ofZamboanga,Basilan andSulu was opened at the second floor of Structure II showing 400 species of marine life specimens in giantdioramas. Also opened was a special exhibit on the 18th century relics from the GriffinShipwreck at the ground floor, which coincided with the formal inauguration of the structure.[1]
Former congresswoman and Zamboanga City MayorMaria Clara Lobregat, one of the staunch supporters of Fort Pilar Museum, and the civic-minded residents of the city greatly contributed to the realization of development projects in the museum.[1]
Fort Pilar is now an outdoorRoman Catholic Marian shrine and a regional branch of theNational Museum of the Philippines. Inside the fort, only the southern structure is still in ruins; inside and outside the fort are well maintained gardens. ThePaseo del Mar, areclaimedesplanade, protects the fort from the ravages of the sea.
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