The Basilica of Vera Cruz consists of two clearly differentiated parts: the walls and the sanctuary. Despite its Islamic origins, the monument has undergone many changes. Nowadays, 14 different shaped-and-sized fortified towers are spread along the wall. The fortress belonged first to the Order of the Temple, and later to the Order of Santiago, a Spanish Christian military order. Moreover, the castle was used for military purposes during the Spanish Succession War and the Peninsular War.
The Holy True Cross Sanctuary was built in the heart of the old fortress in the 17th century. Then, in the 18th century, its magnificent baroque façade was annexed to the sanctuary. The church has a Latin-Cross plan, a continuous gallery over the lateral naves, and also a dome over the transept. Recently, the Holy True Cross Museum has been reopened in the sanctuary rooms.
References:Goryōkaku (五稜郭) (literally, 'five-point fort') is a star fort in the Japanese city of Hakodate on the island of Hokkaido. The fortress was completed in 1866. It was the main fortress of the short-lived Republic of Ezo.
Goryōkaku was designed in 1855 by Takeda Ayasaburō and Jules Brunet. Their plans was based on the work of the French architect Vauban. The fortress was completed in 1866, two years before the collapse of the Tokugawa Shogunate. It is shaped like a five-pointed star. This allowed for greater numbers of gun emplacements on its walls than a traditional Japanese fortress, and reduced the number of blind spots where a cannon could not fire.
The fort was built by the Tokugawa shogunate to protect the Tsugaru Strait against a possible invasion by the Meiji government.
Goryōkaku is famous as the site of the last battle of the Boshin War.