Castle of Saint Anthony of Salgar, Spanish colonial fort in Salgar, Colombia

The Castle of Saint Anthony of Salgar is a two-story ochre-yellow building with white horizontal trim lines separating the levels and edging the roofline. Its front facade has arcades of arches on both floors, with brick-red patterned arch borders and white bases; to the right are rectangular windows with dark grilles, and a stepped upper section rises at the back right. It stands on a steep slope west of the Salgar beaches.

A fort called Santa Bárbara or San Antonio stood here in the colonial era; abandoned at the end of the 18th century, it was kept in service in August 1815 after Pablo Morillo took Cartagena. The present building was erected in 1848 on the ruins of the old fortín de San Antonio. In 1849 the banker Esteban Márquez ordered a customs office on the site, moved to Barranquilla in 1876, and in 1897 it served as an intermediate station on the Bolívar railway.

The castle's name comes from the earlier fortín de San Antonio, and its grounds now hold a pinacoteca and a library alongside restaurants serving regional dishes. Colombian singers Joe Arroyo and Naty Botero filmed the video for their song «Esta noche es nuestra» here.

The castle stands on a slope west of Salgar beach, about 15 minutes from Barranquilla and a few minutes from Puerto Colombia town centre. It is under permanent surveillance and currently abandoned, so check access before travelling. The site was restored for a restaurant, event centre and cultural venue.

The two cannons that guarded the fortification were stolen in the mid-1990s; they had been regarded as a symbol of the castle. The batteries, placed at strategic points, aimed across the whole bay. The building was declared a National Cultural Heritage on 13 July 1988.