• THE Castillo de la Real Fuerza (Castle of the Royal Force), located in the oldest part of Havana, attracts the attention of hundreds of tourists who visit it every week, not just because of its harmonious, Renaissance-inspired architecture, or because it is the oldest military construction in the city, but also because of the legend surrounding the artistic weather vane, known as La Giraldilla, which tops its lookout tower.

With the passing of the centuries, she became one of the most gracious and recognizable symbols of the Cuban capital. The little statue now travels the entire world, depicted on the label of Cuba’s rum, while also being featured on whimsical gifts evocative of a happy stay in Havana.

The original work is exhibited in the nearby City Museum, housed in the former Palace of the Captains General. While the main replica is the one that has been seen on the Castillo since 1926, another replica was sent to the municipality of Seville in 1992.

Going back in history to 1630, Juan Bitrián de Viamonte, the Spanish colonial captain-general of the island, asked a Havana foundry worker, Jerónimo Martín Pinzón, to make the small bronze vane that was to become La Giraldilla (the "giraldilla" is the name of a popular dance from the Asturias and neighboring provinces in Spain). Once affixed to the lookout tower, the vane’s purpose was to indicate the best wind currents, counter to the trade winds, for ships anchored in Havana Bay, principally fleets that were waiting to set sail.

The allegorical figure of a woman was inspired by the Moorish Giralda of the Cathedral of Seville (*translator’s note: "giralda" means animal or human-shaped weather vane). In her left hand, she holds a wand whose tip is the cross of the Spanish Military Order of Calatrava. Her other hand rests on her right hip, and her head is upright, in a proud and flirtatious pose. The lady of the Castillo de la Fuerza is really something.

Since her creation in 1630, she has prompted the most diverse myths and legends. For the city residents of old, her image suggested a symbol of victory. But the most beautiful of all of the legends emerged long before the vane itself was created, when Doña Isabel de Bobadilla, daughter of the Count of Gomera and wife of Hernando de Soto, was invested as governor of Cuba. This was because De Soto had left in 1538 as part of the conquest of Florida and in search of the Fountain of Youth and in his haste to begin that ambitious project, he had left his wife in charge. Thus, Isabel became the only woman who has ever governed Cuba.

De Soto did not find the Fountain of Youth; bitten by mosquitoes, he died on the banks of the Mississippi River. Back in Havana, Isabel became desperate and melancholy. Day and night, she would scan the horizon over the bay awaiting the return of her beloved. One day, tired and disappointed, she packed everything and left for the Canary Islands, giving no reason for her departure.

As time went by, residents of the capital converted her into a phantom, and on nights when there was a full moon, they would see her floating, like a Chagal painting, over the Castillo de la Fuerza and Havana Bay. That legend was reinforced when the Giraldilla appeared on the top of the Castillo lookout tower.

Then people said it was Doña Isabel, flattened into bronze, turning with the wind, and driven in her search for the far-off Spanish governor. Others said that the lady of the castle evoked the destination of the fleets of the New World, Seville, where the convoys sailed against the trade winds bearing treasures snatched from the Inca and Aztec peoples.

The Castillo de la Real Fuerza has much more to offer. It was the second-largest fortress in the West Indies and the first built in the "key" to the New World. Shortly after its completion, the castle served as a backdrop for the first show staged in Cuba, the comedy Los buenos en el cielo, y los malos en el suelo ("The Good in Heaven and the Bad on Earth), on the Noche de San Juan (Midsummer Night’s Eve), in 1598. It is said that the audience was so rowdy that the governor, annoyed, said that whoever did not keep quiet would be sent to the stocks. When the play ended at 1:00 a.m., the public began chanting, "One more time, one more time!"

Why was this fortress built? It was the mid-16th century. The kings of Spain prohibited solo voyages by ships from the New World (America), setting sail from Cartagena, Veracruz or Portobelo and bearing their precious cargos. This gave Havana a sudden military importance, because all of the ships had to assemble in the Port of Carenas to travel in convoy over the ocean to Seville. It was 1543.

This finally defeated the daring of the corsairs and pirates; they could not attack a fleet of at least 10 vessels on the high seas. This required the fortification of the Port of Carenas and of the city of Havana itself, where the Crown’s treasures were stored for weeks, sometimes months.