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Ya que la fortaleza estaba abandonada, fue saqueada por los invasores.

Ya que la fortaleza estaba abandonada, fue saqueada por los invasores.
Since the fortress was abandoned, it was looted by the invaders.
From Lesson 360:Analytical passive voice (ser + participio)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Ya que la fortaleza estaba abandonada, fue saqueada por los invasores.

Why do we use fue saqueada instead of estaba saqueada in the second half?
fue saqueada uses the analytical passive (ser + past participle) to describe an action being done by a specific agent (por los invasores). If we used estaba saqueada, it would merely describe the resulting state of being looted, rather than the active event of the invaders doing it.
Why does the first clause use estaba abandonada instead of fue abandonada?
The first clause describes the physical state or condition the fortress was already in, so we use estar + past participle. If we used fue abandonada, it would mean the actual event of people abandoning the fortress happened at that exact moment.
Why do both abandonada and saqueada end in -a?
In both types of passive voice (whether using ser or estar), the past participle acts like an adjective and must match the subject in gender and number. Because la fortaleza is feminine and singular, the participles must be feminine and singular as well.
Could I use desde que instead of ya que to say since?
No, because desde que means since only in a time sense (like since yesterday). In this sentence, since means because or given that, so you must use a causal conjunction like ya que or como.

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