Bantayan island, Cebu is well known for it’s beaches and resorts, but what many are unaware of is the island’s rich history. Along the shores of Santa Fe on the southern coast of the island — where the majority of the beach resorts are owing to the white sand sandbar — is a structure hidden among the foliage of growing trees. One resort was even named after this structure.
A fortress locally known as “Kota” by the residents still exists abandoned. The bastioned fort was built sometime between the 18th and 19th centuries, for the island was subject to multiple Moro pirate raids that devastated several times with the most severe instance in 1628 when 800 people were taken away as slaves. The People, most likely under the guidance of the priests who had seen similar fortifications back in their native countries, built fortifications like these all around the Visayas to protect themselves against the pirates. The fort itself has a quadrilateral form with bastions on each corner. The walls are made of mamposteria or coral rubble stuck together with lime mortar then piled on top of each other. Remnants of locations of wooden emplacements still line the structure.
This fortress is a larger example to these “Kota” that remain as a reminder of a past.Today, the fortress is infested by parasitic trees gradually destroying the centuries old walls. The property is owned by the church of Sta. Fe. In order to access this site, one either needs to walk the shoreline to the tip of the beach or by land; questioning locals for directions helps very much and do not forget to ask permission to enter.
|UnknownCebuStudios|
