Fortress
4/5
Fort Santa Cruz
Perched dramatically over 400 meters above the Mediterranean Sea atop Mount Murdjadjo, Fort Santa Cruz is one of Oran's most iconic military fortresses. Built by the Spanish Empire between 1577 and 1604 following centuries of fierce warfare against Ottoman forces and local Algerian corsairs, the citadel has endured naval bombardments, bloody sieges, devastating earthquakes, and centuries of military occupation. Today, visitors and guards report ghost sightings of 16th-century Spanish soldiers, phantom cannon fire echoing over the cliffs, unexplainable footsteps along stone ramparts, and phantom cries rising from the deep subterranean tunnels that connect the fortress to the sea.