Fort São João Baptista da Foz
The Fort São João Baptista da Foz (Forte de São João Baptista da Foz in Portuguese), is located in the parish of Foz do Douro, in the municipality and District of Porto, in Portugal.
It stands in a dominant position at the mouth of the Douro river, overseeing the access the city of Porto via the river.
History
The abbot of Santo Tirso monastery and bishop of Viseu, Dom Miguel da Silva, had a church and abbots residence built where the fort now stands, for which he resorted to the services of the Italian architect Francesco de Cremona.[1] Together with the São Miguel-o-Anjo Lighthouse (completed in 1527 a few hundred meters away from the fort), they were the first manifestations of Renaissance architecture in Northern Portugal).[2][3]
The fort was commissioned in 1567, one year after an attack by French pirates on Madeira.[1] Construction of the fort began during the reign of King Sebastian (1557–1578), in 1570, and took eight years, under the supervision of João Gomes da Silva, a diplomat and trusted man of the Court and designed by the master of fortifications Simão de Rouen, son of Jean de Rouen, it consisted of a simple bastioned structure, surrounding the old medieval structures of the hospice, monastery, and the church of the Benedictines of Santo Tirso.[1]
With the War of Restoration of independence, the remodeling of the fort was deemed necessary. Fearing a Spanish invasion along the northern border of the kingdom, King John IV (1640–56) dispatched the new Chief Engineer of the Kingdom, the French Charles Lassart, to the city of Porto in 1642.[1] He had the opportunity to verify, in loco, the ineffectiveness of the 16th century structure in the face of 17th century offensive means, and he prepared a new project that expanded and reinforced it. The works were in charge of the Benedictine architect João Turriano.[1] However, problems raised by the source of funds at the Porto City Council and personal problems of the forts Lieutenant-Governor Pinto de Matos (1643–1645) significantly delayed the start of the works.
With the appointment of Martim Gonçalves da Câmara, as a replacement for Pinto de Matos (May 1646), work finally started, with the demolition of the Old Church in the same year. The chancel and nave of the church, with the involvement of the bastioned structure and the dismantling of the cover, functioned as the fort's courtyard.[1] Made a priority in the face of the invasion of Minho by Spanish troops, they were completed in 1653.[3][1] Two years later, it was considered the second stronghold in the kingdom, after Fort São Julião da Barra, and the key to the city of Porto, which the fort not only secured but also the entire province of Entre-Douro e Minho and that of Beira. At the end of the 17th century, in 1694, it was garrisoned by an infantry terço paid by the Porto city hall.[1]
As a result of the evolution of ships and artillery, the fort gradually lost its defensive function, being used as a prison for political prisoners. In 1759, when the Society of Jesus was expelt, 227 Jesuits were held there. Among the illustrious names who were detained in their prisons, at the time of the Marquis of Pombal stand out those of Tomás da Silva Teles, Viscount of Vila Nova de Cerveira (who died there in 1762), and José de Seabra da Silva, and in the 19th century, the liberals José da Silva Passos and the Duke of Terceira.
At the beginning of the 19th century, during the Peninsular War, on June 6, 1808, Sergeant Major Raimundo José Pinheiro occupied its premises and, in the following dawn, hoisted the Portuguese flag on its mast, the first act of Portuguese insurrection against the Napoleonic occupation.[4] The fortification would be involved a few years later in the Portuguese Civil War, having protected the landing of supplies, during the siege of Porto (1832–1833).[3]
In the 20th century it was the residence of the poet Florbela Espanca, wife of one of the officers of the garrison.[3]
It was classified as a "Property of Public Interest" in 1967.[1] After being abandoned for a few years, in the first half of the 1990s, the monument underwent archaeological intervention under the responsibility of the Urban Archeology Office of the Museum and Historical and Artistic Heritage Division of the Porto city council.[3]
It currently houses the National Defense Institute.[3]
Features
Lassart's 17th century project did not alter the essentials of the 16th century stronghold although it modified the organic structure. The old church, inserted in the military area, was demolished, the central part of the facade was torn down, the towers were opened, the slabs of the graves on its floor were removed to be reused in the masonry and the vault (the first in Renaissance style in the country) was dismantled. It was converted to a courtyard, while its dependencies were buried to consolidate the embankment of the eastern bastion.[1] The niches of the side altars were boarded up by stone masonry walls.[1]
Based on the reality imposed by the irregularity of the terrain and the preexisting fortification, the plan of the new structure presents the format of an organic rectangle with three bulwarks and a half bulwark, concentrating the artillery fire on the land side, given the natural difficulties of transposition of the Douro river bar.[1] The only bulwark with a regular layout is the one that points to the bar; of the two facing the land side, the one on the east is exceptionally pointed, ending in a spur of great height, while on the west it extends through a spur intended to eliminate a blind spot, currently almost covered by the road embankment.[1]
The new entrance portal to the fort, in neoclassical style, was built by Engineer Reinaldo Oudinot (1796), equipped with a drawbridge, a mated entrance hall and a guard body covering the palatial façade in place of a 17th-century ravelin. This was the last work undertaken, although it was still incomplete in 1827.
Gallery
References
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Branco
- Forte de Ponte de Alvito
- Fortress of Buarcos
- Santa Catarina
- Palheiros Fort
- Estremoz
- Juromenha
- Santo António da Piedade
- Fort of Mourão
- São Luís
- Fort of Arrifana
- Santa Catarina
- São João do Arade
- Nossa Senhora da Encarnação
- Nossa Senhora da Luz
- Nossa Senhora da Penha de França
- Cavaleiros de Santiago
- São Sebastião de Castro Marim
- Fort of Sagres
- Nossa Senhora da Guia
- São Roque
- São Vicente
- Santo António de Tavira
- São João da Barra
- Vera Cruz
- Burgau Fort
- Santo António de Belixe
- Nossa Senhora da Rocha
- São Francisco
- Nossa Senhora da Consolação
- São João Baptista das Berlengas
- São Miguel Arcanjo
- São Vicente
- Bom Sucesso
- Santo António da Barra
- São Lourenço do Bugio
- Nossa Senhora da Luz
- Fort of Guincho
- Nossa Senhora da Guia
- Santa Susana
- São João das Maias
- São Bruno
- Nossa Senhora de Porto Salvo
- São Pedro de Milreu
- Nossa Senhora dos Anjos
- Nossa Senhora das Mercês
- Fort of Sacavém
- São Jorge
- São Julião da Barra
- São Pedro do Estoril
- São Teodósio
- Santa Marta
- Santo Amaro
- Nossa Senhora da Natividade
- Santa Apolónia
- São Brás de Sanxete
- Fort of Cresmina
Lines of Torres Vedras | |
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Campo Entrincheirado |
- Nossa Senhora das Neves
- Nossa Senhora da Conceição
- São Francisco Xavier
- São João Baptista
- São João Baptista da Foz
Castelo
- Areosa Fort
- Fort of Cão
- Nossa Senhora da Ínsua
- Fort of Lagarteira
- Montedor Fort
- Monção
- Santiago da Barra
- São Francisco de Lovelhe
- Valença
- Fort of the Açougue (Terceira)
- Fort of the Cavalas (Terceira)
- Fort of the Church of São Mateus da Calheta (Terceira)
- Fort of Cinco Ribeiras (Terceira)
- Espírito Santo (Terceira)
- Fort of the Caninas (Terceira)
- Nossa Senhora da Guia (Faial)
- Fort of Greta (Terceira)
- Fort of Má Ferramenta (Terceira)
- Fort of the Maré (Terceira)
- Military Battery of Espalamaca (Faial)
- Fort of Negrito (Terceira)
- Dois Paus redoubt (Terceira)
- São João Baptista (Terceira)
- Reducto da Salga (Terceira)
- Três Paus redoubt (Terceira)
- Forte da Salga (Terceira)
- Santa Catarina das Mós (Terceira)
- Santa Cruz (Faial)
- Santo António (Terceira)
- Santo António do Monte Brasil (Terceira)
- São Brás (Santa Maria)
- São Fernando (Terceira)
- São Francisco (Terceira)
- São João (Terceira)
- São João Baptista (Santa Maria)
- São Mateus da Calheta (Terceira)
- São Sebastião (Terceira)
- Forte do Terreiro (Terceira)
- Zimbreiro Fort (Terceira)
- São João Baptista (Pico)
- Nossa Senhora do Amparo (Madeira)
- São José (Porto Santo)
- São Lourenço (Madeira)
- São Tiago (Madeira)