The Bulwark of San Lucas was originally constructed across the Channel of Juan de Angola and, together with Santa Catalina, was charged with defending the city from the northwest, where Cruz Grande Avenue ended. Projected by Bautista Antonelli in 1595, it was Cristóbal de Roda who was responsible for its construction around 1617.
Roda followed the plan of his predecessor although he partially modified it, moving the bulwarks of San Lucas and Santa Catalina forward to include within the walled city some fertile lands with numerous reservoirs located in the San Diego neighborhood.
The somewhat obsolete Italian ideas about bulwarks applied by Roda, were not appreciated by the governor and also engineer Francisco de Murga who preferred the new proposals emanating from Flanders. Murga would direct the construction between 1631 until it was finished in 1638, extending the fortress with trenches and ravelins.
San Lucas was partially destroyed after the explosions carried out by the troops of the Baron De Pointis in 1697, and, just like the other defenses of Cartagena, would be rebuilt in 1719 by the engineer Juan de Herrera y Sotomayor. It has an access ramp, two covered paths, two sentry-boxes, a parapet with embrasures and a barbette battery.
