There are more than one hundred castles in the Americas. Virtually all of them were built between the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries as recreational homes, amusement parks, or tourist destinations, in republics that had long ago severed their ties with monarchies. Only one can be called a true historic castle, the Castle of Chapultepec in Mexico City, where monarchs—and a princess—once lived.
The home of Emperor Maximilian of Habsburg, the last European monarch in the Americas (1864-1867), attracts millions of tourists every year, eager to absorb the romantic atmosphere of the legendary alcazar, in whose corridors Empress Carlota once walked.
The Battle Of Chapultepec
Chapultepec was also the stage where the forces of Mexico and the United States battled in 1847, in what was possibly the most iconic moment of the war between both countries, which resulted in the loss of half of the territory for the former. When Gen. Winfield Scott and his army had “the Halls of Montezuma” in front of them, Chapultepec was the last stronghold and the passage to Mexico City.
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