presidio

/prəˌsɪdiˈoʊ/

Other forms: presidios

A presidio is a Spanish military fort. Presidios in the western U.S. were built by Spanish colonizers to protect territory they had claimed.

Many North American presidios were specifically built to protect Spanish missions, areas claimed by the king of Spain where missionaries constructed churches in order to convert native inhabitants to Christianity. These presidios, built between the 16th and 18th centuries, functioned as fortresses against raids by native people, rival colonists, and pirates. In Spanish, presidio means "fort or settlement," from a root meaning "to protect."

Definitions of presidio

1. noun

   a fortress established in the southwestern United States by the Spanish in order to protect their missions and other holdings
   “Tucson was first settled as a walled presidio”

   type of:

   fort, fortress

   a fortified defensive structure