Fort Pilar
| Fort Pilar | |
|---|---|
| Real Fuerza de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza | |
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The Courtyard of Fort Pilar
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 Location of Fort Pilar in the Philippines
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| Former names | Real Fuerza 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″N 122°4′56″E / 6.90111°N 122.08222°ECoordinates: 6°54′4″N 122°4′56″E / 6.90111°N 122.08222°E |
| Current tenants | National Museum of the Philippines |
| Groundbreaking | June 23, 1635 |
| Owner | Philippine Government |
| Technical details | |
| Structural system | Masonry |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Father Melchor de Vera (1635) Juan Sicarra (1718) |
The Real Fuerza de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza (Royal Fort of Our Lady of the Pillar of Zaragoza), also Fort Pilar, is a 17th-century military defense fortress built by the Spanish colonial government in Zamboanga City, Philippines. The fort, which is now a regional museum of the National Museum of the Philippines, is a major landmark of the city and symbol of its cultural heritage. Outside the eastern wall is a Marian shrine dedicated to Our Lady of the Pillar, the patroness of the city.
In 1635, upon the requests of the Jesuit missionaries and Bishop Fray Pedro of Cebu, the Spanish governor of the Philippines Juan Cerezo de Salamanca (1633–1635) approved the building of a stone fort in defense against pirates and raiders of the sultans of Mindanao and Jolo. The cornerstone of the fort, originally called Real Fuerza de San José (Royal Fort of Saint Joseph), was laid by Melchor de Vera, a Jesuit priest-engineer, on June 23, 1635, which also marks the founding of Zamboanga as a city, then known as Jambangan.
The construction of the early fort continued within the governorship of Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera (1635–1644), ex-governor of Panama. Because of insufficient manpower, laborers from Cavite, Cebu, Bohol, and Panay had to be imported to help the Spaniards and Mexicans in the construction of the fort. This period also marks the beginning of the Zamboangueño Chavacano as a pidgin that eventually developed into a full-fledged creole language for Zamboangueños.
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Wikipedia