Presidio

Common card · No. 307170

A presidio (jail, fortification) was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire mainly between the 16th and 18th centuries in areas under their control or influence. The term is derived from the Latin word praesidium meaning protection or defense. In the Mediterranean and the Philippines, the presidios were outposts of defense against raids by Muslims. In the Americas, the fortresses were built to protect against raids by pirates, rival colonial powers, and Native Americans. Later in western North America, with independence, the Mexicans garrisoned the Spanish presidios on the northern frontier and followed the same pattern in unsettled frontier regions such as the Sonoma Barracks in what is now California and the Presidio de Calabasas in what is now Arizona. In western North America, a rancho del rey or king's ranch would be established a short distance outside a presidio. This was a tract of land assigned to the presidio to furnish pasturage to the horses and other beasts of...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Nuria Morán Núñez from Madrid, España, CC BY-SA 2.0