Structure 19
Defense and Surveillance Center (1524 – 1530)
Military Function
Erected by order of the founder Francisco Hernández de Córdoba. Its strategic purpose was the protection of the Spanish settlement and surveillance against possible uprisings by the native population of the area.
Architecture and Historic Registry:
- Perimeter Wall Built with boulder for greater strength.
- Internal Structure: Buildings of wall (compacted earth).
- Graphic Testimony: In 1532, the chronicler Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo He drew its main tower, leaving the only contemporary visual record of the structure.
Rediscovery
In 1998, after the passage of the Hurricane Mitch, soil erosion exposed sections of the original wall, allowing for scientific and archaeological recovery.
