The Fort São Pedro da Barra de Luanda, is located in the former Hill of Cassandama (Morro de Cassandama in Portuguese), now Angola Quiluanje neighborhood, in Luanda, Angola.
| Fort São Pedro da Barra de Luanda | |
|---|---|
Fortaleza de São Pedro da Barra de Luanda | |
| Luanda in Angola | |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | Dutch West India Company Portuguese Empire Angola |
| Condition | Ruined |
| Location | |
  Fort São Pedro da Barra Location within Angola | |
| Coordinates | 8°46′24″S 13°17′10″E / 8.77333°S 13.28611°E |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1703-1780 [1] |
It is the only fort in Luanda that was not completely built by the Portuguese, having been started by the Dutch.[2][3]
History
editThe earliest fortification of the place of Cassandama dates to an artillery battery cut out on the sea-side rocks by the Dutch West India Company when they briefly took control of Luanda from the Portuguese, between 1641 and 1648.
After the city was retaken by a Portuguese expedition under the command of Salvador Correia de Sá e Benevides, King Afonso VI of Portugal determined in 1663 that the defences of Luanda harbour be strengthened. The city-hall of Luanda selected Cassandama as the place for a new fort, which was started in 1703 and completely paid by the city.[3][4] It crossed fire with the Fort Nossa Senhora da Flor da Rosa on the Island of Luanda across the Luanda harbour.[2]
The fort was used as a slave entrepot. As the threat of incursions by foreign European powers lessened, the fort fell into disuse and was later used as a prison beginning in the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th.[2] It was restored between 1942 and 1943 by the army captain Durão Paias.[2]
The ruins of the fort were classified as a National Monument by a Provincial Decree nº 1057 of September 9, 1932, as published in the Official Bulletin nº37.[2]
It is state property, under the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence.[2] It is in ruined condition.[2]
Features
editIt is shaped like an irregular poligon approaching the shape of a square, with half a bastion on each edge, with walls of varying thickness.[2]
See also
editReferences
edit- ↑ Forte de Nossa Senhora da Vitória de Massangano / Forte de Massangano in monumentos.gov.pt.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Isabel Martins: Fortaleza de São Pedro da Barra at HPIP.
- 1 2 São Pedro da Barra - A Fortaleza Construída nos Rochedos da Falésia at Jornal de Angola, 28 February 2012
- ↑ Fortress of S. Pedro da Barra at UNESCO World Heritage Center site.