Fort Soledad

     For 250 years, beginning around 1565, Spanish galleons sailed yearly from Acapulco, Mexico to Manila in the Philippines and return.  The only replenishment stop for these Acapulco galleons on the long voyage was Umatac Bay.  From 1680 to 1810, the Spanish built four fortifications at Umatac to protect the anchorage from pirates and privateers.

     Governor Alexandro Parreno constructed the final Spanish fortifications on Guam and the last of four Spanish fortifications in Umatac, Fort Nuestra Senora de la Soledad, our lady of Solitude.  The Fort was constructed of Mamposteria on Mount Ghalan Ahiti consisting of a barbeta for mounting seven guns, quarters for the soldiers, and an arsenal.

     While the French explorer Freycinet in 1819 noted the white of the the Fort with its four cannons, the galleons had already ceased to stop at Guam after 1815.  The galleons no longer sailed from Acapulco to Manila due to political unrest in Mexico.  With the usefulness of Fort Soledad gone, the Fort was abandoned.  For years the Fort crumbled aided by weather, treasure hunters, and World War II.  After World War II, the Government of Guam transformed the Fort into a park.