Cotta Fort (Fuerte de la Concepción)

Spanish coral-stone fort on Ozamiz waterfront

Cotta Fort, on the seafront beside Ozamiz cathedral, is the best-preserved Spanish-era fortification on the western coast of Mindanao and the standard postcard image of the province. The square coral-stone structure, with bastions at the corners and a small chapel inside, looks across the channel to Mukas and the mountains of Lanao del Norte.

The interior houses a shrine to the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception — patron of Ozamiz — and a series of statues of the apparitions of Mary. The walls can be climbed for a wide view of the bay; in the late afternoon the light on the white coral is particularly good. Entry is free.

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A story
The fort was built by Jesuit missionaries in 1756 as a defence against the raiding parties of the sultanates of Mindanao and Sulu, who came up the channel from the south in fast warships called *vintas*. The walls are made of coral blocks quarried from the surrounding reefs and bound with lime mortar — the same construction technique used at the larger Spanish forts on Luzon and Visayas.