487:, continued on the night of 19 October, occupying the garrison which did not notice storming parties of seamen, marines and soldiers infiltrating the fort. The surprise was complete and there were only six British casualties. The treasure found in the fort and on board two treasure ships was worth some two million dollars. Two hundred and fifty quintals (equivalent to 14 metric tons) of mercury were also found in the fort. The fort itself was abandoned by the British at the end of November before a Spanish counterattack arrived. The craters from the British bombardment are still visible in the walls of the fort today.
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58:
459:, a schooner and other small craft, and were hoping to intercept some treasure ships in the bay of Dulce. They found two Spanish ships which took shelter under the guns of the fortress of San Fernando de Omoa, and an unsuccessful attempt was made to capture the town from the sea. They fell in with the sloop
381:
Historically, Omoa had a cattle industry, with most of the cattle being maintained for
Honduran use. Omoa has a large fishing industry. Other sources of income come from tourism and of the fortress of San Fernando, the largest of Central America and one of the few surviving colonial fortresses in the
471:
and 250 Baymen to make an overland attempt on Omoa. They underestimated the difficulties of marching first through swamps, and then wild, mountainous country and only covered three miles during the night. However, when they reached the town the following afternoon it soon fell, but they were unable
302:
Omoa was founded again in 1752 as a
Spanish colonial town. The then-governor of Honduras, Pantaleón Ibánez, described that the town they planned would include a hospital, a building for the royal treasury, a church, warehouses, barracks for soldiers, and houses for the officers. The town itself was
337:
In the late 18th century, Omoa had a diverse population of
Spanish, Indians (mostly from central Honduras), enslaved Africans (the four contracts of royal slaves deployed to build and maintain the fort), mulattos, and free blacks (escaped English slaves, mostly from Belize).
408:, an 18th-century Spanish fort, though there are actually two forts there. The earlier Fort Real was started in 1752, and remodelled in 1759. Next to Fort Real, the Fort of San Fernando de Omoa was constructed from 1756 through 1775. A naval packet ship (
466:
and some troop transports returning from driving the
Spaniards from St George's. On 16 October, this was followed by a landing some 9 miles away at Puerto Caballo by seamen and marines from the ships, a detachment of the
303:
to house the people who would build and occupy the two
Spanish forts (El Real, and San Fernando de Omoa) which would guard the bay. Construction of El Real began in 1752 and was finished around 1756.
490:
Omoa was the last
Spanish stronghold in Central America after the region declared its independence. The Spanish fort was captured by the Central American Republicans under Colonel
795:
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Repeated pirate raids on coastal towns along the
Caribbean coast of Central America led the Spanish Crown as early as 1590 to begin looking for a new defensible port for the
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800:
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that often left from Omoa to Spain. Ironically, the construction of the fortress did not end until piracy had significantly declined. After the independence of
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and a small town located along the
Northwest Caribbean coast of Honduras. It is populated by about 30,000 people distributed within an area of 382.8 km².
353:. Nevertheless, that importance began to fade in the 1820s when the place was destroyed a couple of times by fires, the bay began to silt up, and nearby
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to take the fort because the Baymen had dropped the scaling ladders they were carrying. They were supported during the attack by fire from
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was built next to it. San
Fernando de Omoa was finished around 1774. This historic place had as its main purpose to protect against the
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United States Post-disaster
Assistance to Honduras: Report of a Staff Survey Mission to Honduras, Pursuant to H. Res. 267 ...
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to Luis del Puerto along with the nearby Indian town of Chachaguala; by 1582 Omoa had ceased to exist as a viable community.
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295:, and many subsequent ones, all pointed to the bay at Omoa as the most defensible location along the coast west of
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518:"Honduras: Administrative Division (Departments and Municipalities) - Population Statistics, Charts and Map"
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Central America; Describing Each of the States of Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica
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in 1821, the fortress was used as a prison by the Honduran authorities through the 1950s. The English
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543:"Cortés (Honduras): Population of cities in Honduras - Population Statistics, Charts and Map"
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The bombardment from the sea, supplemented by fire from some guns which had been landed from
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480:, the latter being badly damaged when she grounded for a while as she tried to get closer.
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were with a small squadron which arrived off the Honduras coast. They were accompanied by
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that targeted the silver cargos originating from the mines of San Miguel of
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El Real was used to defend the port town while the much larger fort of
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248:. Omoa is located on a small bay of the same name 18 km west of
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destroyed the town and was a point of rescue operations afterward.
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The fort was one of the few structures left standing after 1974's
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For a very long time, Omoa was one of the most important ports in
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was developed in the 1880s, reducing Omoa to a fishing village.
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This article is about the town in Honduras. For the town on
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In 1536 Omoa was a small "pueblo de indios" allocated in
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with a population of 10,550 (2023 calculation) in the
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to export its goods to Spain. This initial study by
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El Fuerte San Fernando y las fortifications de Omoa
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357:was developed. Then the first railroad connecting
334:in 1779 and reportedly burned its 200 buildings.
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599:Sullivan, John H.; Paolillo, Charles (1975).
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796:Spanish colonial fortifications in Honduras
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573:. London: Trelawney Saunders. p. 129.
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791:Municipalities of the Cortés Department
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400:Exterior of the San Fernando Fortress
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801:Populated places established in 1752
404:Omoa's most striking feature is the
377:Tourism is the main economy of Omoa
588:. Organization of American States.
14:
406:Fortaleza de San Fernando de Omoa
392:Fortaleza de San Fernando de Omoa
310:British invasion of Omoa in 1779.
183:394 km (152 sq mi)
806:1772 establishments in New Spain
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605:U.S. Government Printing Office.
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33:Municipality in Cortés, Honduras
289:Captaincy General of Guatemala
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584:Juan Manuel Zapatero (1997).
299:(which already had a fort).
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332:briefly occupied the town
193: • Municipality
180: • Municipality
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811:1770s in Central America
427:On 15 October 1779 the
204:150/km (380/sq mi)
741:San Francisco de Yojoa
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736:San Antonio de Cortés
630:15.77389°N 88.03639°W
547:www.citypopulation.de
522:www.citypopulation.de
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123:15.77389°N 88.03639°W
567:Baily, John (1850).
469:Royal Irish Regiment
386:San Fernando of Omoa
345:Omoa church in 1859.
316:San Fernando de Omoa
242:Department of Cortés
201: • Density
756:Santa Cruz de Yojoa
635:15.77389; -88.03639
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128:15.77389; -88.03639
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680:Cortés Department
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264:Omoa is both a
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751:San Pedro Sula
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363:San Pedro Sula
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731:Puerto Cortés
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359:Puerto Cortes
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278:repartimiento
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254:Caribbean Sea
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250:Puerto Cortés
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209: •
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104:Coordinates:
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27:
23:
19:
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689:
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594:
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550:. Retrieved
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525:. Retrieved
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492:Juan Galindo
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414:San Fernando
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266:municipality
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238:municipality
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50:Municipality
30:
726:Potrerillos
633: /
552:16 February
527:16 February
324:Tegucigalpa
126: /
785:Categories
761:Villanueva
746:San Manuel
621:88°02′11″W
618:15°46′26″N
478:Lowestoffe
435:Lowestoffe
429:Royal Navy
390:See also:
382:Americas.
188:Population
167:Foundation
157:Department
111:15°46′26″N
688:Capital:
463:Porcupine
461:HMS
456:Racehorse
454:HMS
447:HMS
440:HMS
433:HMS
410:paquebote
293:Antonelli
260:Geography
114:88°2′11″W
18:Fatu Hiva
721:Pimienta
423:Interior
351:Honduras
328:Honduras
297:Trujillo
246:Honduras
151:Honduras
711:La Lima
706:Choloma
369:Economy
320:pirates
272:History
256:coast.
252:on the
221:Climate
139:Country
20:in the
485:Pomona
474:Charon
449:Pomona
442:Charon
431:ships
215:30,334
196:58,172
161:Cortés
148:
24:, see
505:Notes
361:with
211:Urban
26:Omo'a
716:Omoa
554:2021
529:2021
476:and
438:and
234:Omoa
175:Area
170:1752
92:Omoa
67:Omoa
43:Omoa
40:Omoa
280:by
244:in
787::
545:.
520:.
494:.
452:,
226:Af
667:e
660:t
653:v
556:.
531:.
416:.
28:.
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