Casstillitos Battery

This is obviously not mine, but since we have so many militaria buffs here, I thought they would enjoy it. These are some of the pics taken by us on a visit to the Castillitos battery in Cape Tinos in the municipality of Cartagena, province of Murcia, on the Mediterranean.

A bit of history:

Given the need to defend the city of Cartagena, the port and military shipyard, from attacks by sea, a number of coastal batteries were built between the eighteenth and early twentieth centuries. Some of them preserve eighteenth century cannons and other big guns of the early twentieth century.
Castillitos battery dates from 1929.

Castillitos coastal battery is really impressive, both it's construction and, above all, the natural environment in which it stands.

The appearance of this building resembles a medieval castle. It has good visibility on the coast between Cabo de Gata and Escombreras. The weapons are two guns of 38.1 Vickers firing shells of almost a ton to a 35 kilometer range. There are three underground floors to accommodate the machinery, advanced technology in the years of their assembly (1928 to 1936).

Its purpose was to defend the coast to avoid an approaching enemy a distance that could achieve military objectives.

All this could be visited, with a flashlight, since it was abandonned. The "off limits" signs hanging at doors and passages were no deterrant to a determined visitor (yes, we ducked under the chains and did some exploring...). There was no one guarding it when we went, but I know now it's being restored and turned into a park. Hopefully it will have guides to explain everything in it.

First pic is a view from afar, it takes about 30-40 minutes riding a twisted, old asphalt covered road to get to it from the main road. And yes, it's that narrow road you see winding in the foreground...
Second and third are, well, the "little" guns...
fourth pic is a view of the whatever-it's-called-in-drab-green-language place where the boys would stand guard and look out on the sea to alert the others if a ship came too close...
The little corridor you see in that las pic is about as wide as a person, and to get there, you have to climb steep spiral stairs that are so narrow your shoulders rub against both sides...I can only imagine what it must have been like having to run up and down those stone steps, (that still have jagged edges to this day) in military issue combat boots, that back then weren't necessarily your size...