Fermin de Rueda - the last cyclops who revived extinct technique

Fermin de Rueda - the last cyclops who revived extinct technique. Fermin de Rueda was Spain's top military engineer in 1793, born 1744 in Salamanca He was sent to build a fort blocking passage from Basque Country into Castille The country was broke, military in shambles, and French forces seemed unstoppable

Fermin de Rueda (1744-1793), Spain's top military engineer, faced a broke country, crumbling military, and unstoppable French forces. He likely visited ancient cyclopean sites in Lusitania or studied Peruvian works. His solution: build a star-fort using 2,000-year-extinct dry-stacked cyclopean masonry. Why? Non-hydraulic mortar would trap moisture in thick walls and collapse. His counterintuitive choice proved cyclopean walls resist cannon fire - yet NO other star-fort worldwide adopted this technique. He was the last cyclops.

Key Facts

• Fermin de Rueda was Spain's top military engineer in 1793, born 1744 in Salamanca
• He was sent to build a fort blocking passage from Basque Country into Castille
• The country was broke, military in shambles, and French forces seemed unstoppable
• Non-hydraulic mortar was too scarce and expensive at the time
• He likely visited old cyclopean sites in Lusitania: Yecla la Vieja, Merchanas, or Ulaca
• He may have spent time in Venezuela and learned of Peruvian cyclopean works
• His solution proved cyclopean walls can resist cannon fire without mortar
• No other star-fort in the world used this technique despite hundreds built in 18th-19th centuries
• Cyclopean wall strength is not apparent - their exceptional resistance to forces is counterintuitive

Related site: La Fortaleza del Crestón — view location, images, and history on the Ancient Nerds map.

Source: The Puzzling Basque Case - How did they know? by One-eyed giant building walls