HISTORY OF
SAN CARLOS MILITARY MUSEUM
K ing Felipe III ordered the construction of a tower at the express request of the merchants, through the Gran and General Consell institution. This marks the beginning of the architectural ensemble. They entered by a drawbridge using the door that you can see at the top.
The costs of the construction reached 12,000 GBP, of which 5,000 were paid by the university of Mallorca, 5,000 were paid by the crown and the other 2,000 were charged to the School of Merchants.
T he construction took place between 1610 and 1612 and the tower was built in the original place of the old Porto Pi lighthouse.
The tower was constructed due to the necessity to defend the maritime area and especially the zone of Porto Pi, which in the 17th century was the natural port of the city of Palma, from the continued attacks from pirates and barbarians that invaded the Mediterranean.
T he tower presents a tetragonal with a bastion at each corner. The material used is sandstone, which you can see in many parts of the construction, showing marks done by the artisans who constructed it. According to some historians, the name of the castle comes from viceroy of Mallorca Carles Coloma. Half a century after the construction and before the need to increase the staffing of the castle and its material, in 1662 and with Felipe IV they broached the construction of the enlargement of the second phase that was done by the ilustrous military engineer D. Vicente Mut. The fortress presents a keystone form, with four large bastions that give this peculiar shape. In the 19th century there is the third and final reformation of the forming of a coast battery with four Ordoñez canons 24 size.
During the twentieth century has had various uses, prison officers, battery salutes to greet warships and Military Museum since 1981. Since 1997 the Castillo de San Carlos Consortium is responsible for the management of the museum and the fortress, formed by the following administrations:
1. Ministerio de Defensa 2. Govern de les Illes Balears 3. Consell Insular de Mallorca 4. Ajuntament de Palma