Castle San Sebastian de la Cruz

Description: Situated in a sheltered cove on the southern side of the bay, the town of Corral is 20 minutes by boat from Niebla. Ferries to Corral leave from Niebla’s passenger dock regularly and cost $800 CLP (USD 1.20) per person each way. Life preservers are provided. Some of the ferries stop at nearby Isla Mancera ─ Mancera Island, which is another possible destination if you’re interested in seeing all the forts in the area. 

The Castle is located on the coast of Corral Bay, 11 nautical miles from Schuster Dock in Valdivia; that is, about one and a half hour of navigation. It was declared historic monument by Supreme Decree 3869 of 14 June 1950. This castle is one of the seventeen Spanish fortresses that were built in the area of Valdivia from the seventeenth century onwards, making up the defense system of Valdivia.

Among Galleons and Cannons

The castle began to be build as a Battery in 1645 by orders of Sebastián de Toledo and Leiva to defend the backwater of the harbor, the final plans to build the fort were developed by Juan Cermeño, who in 1755 commissioned John Garland, an Irish engineer at the service of the Spanish crown. This castle was composed of three elements built at different times and assembled as a whole in 1767, which were the Castle San Sebastian de la Cruz in the south part of the bay, the Batería de la Argolla from 1764 and located slightly further north, and the Cortina built in 1767 and consisting of a large wall that allowed joining all elements together to turn the Castle of Corral into the most powerful of the bay. Its pit, 40 m wide and 8 m deep, housed the stone barracks for up to 200 soldiers. One of the advancements of those days were little ovens installed a small distance from the cannons, the hot shot furnaces. These were intended to heat the balls to the point of redness, a curious but highly effective technique against the wooden boats of those years; this is how it came to be named the red cannon ball. The cannonballs were heated red before firing them at the enemy. Thus, the artillery of this fort consisted of 21 24-caliber cannons mounted on its walls, all equipped with red cannonballs. The Corral Fort boasts an impressive collection of old cannons.