São Marcelo Fort in Salvador da Bahia

Monday, 26 October 2020 - 11:00 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General
Reading Time:  5 minutes

© JLPizzol/cc-by-sa-4.0

© JLPizzol/cc-by-sa-4.0

São Marcelo Fort (Portuguese: Forte São Marcelo), also known as Forte de Nossa Senhora do Pópulo e São Marcelo or Forte do Mar, is located in Salvador in Bahia, Brazil. It is located in small bit of land off the coast in the Baía de Todos os Santos. Standing on a small bank of reefs about 300 metres (980 ft) from the coast, it is one of two forts separated by water from land in Brazil, the other being the Fort Tamandaré da Laje Tamandaré in Rio de Janeiro. It is the only cylindrical fort in Brazil. Its design follows those of Castel Sant’Angelo in Italy and Fort of São Lourenço do Bugio in Portugal. It is popularly known as the “Forte do Mar” (Fort of the Sea). It was built to protect the important port city Salvador from threats; the city had the largest number of forts during the colonial period of Brazil. The São Marcelo Fort was listed as a historic structure by the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN) in 1938. The fort is closed to the public due to construction works. It opened to the public in 2006 after a long period of restoration, but closed again in 2018.

The fort was designed and construction started in 1608 under Francisco Frias Mosque. The first documentary evidence of the fort is in a city plan of Salvador title Planta da Cidade do Salvador, na Baía de Todos os Santos, which dates to 1616. The fort was completed in 1623 during the rule of Governor General Diogo de Mendonça Furtado; it was constructed entirely of wood with 19 artillery pieces of various calibers. The fort was a primary target of the Dutch in 1624 during the Capture of Bahia. It was the first space in Bahia occupied by the Dutch, who used it as a base to fire on the city. Incendiary bullets were launched from the fort to the city center of Salvador, which facilitated the capture of the city. Bahia returned to the Portuguese as part of the Recapture of Bahia 1625, but the region remained under attack during the Dutch rule of Northeast Brazil from 1630 to 1654. The fort played a decisive role in defending Bahia during an attempted invasion by Count Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen (1604-1679) between April and May, 1638.

© Beto Floydian/cc-by-sa-3.0 © Cramunhao/cc-by-3.0 © JLPizzol/cc-by-sa-4.0 © panoramio.com - Paulo JC Nogueira/cc-by-sa-3.0 © Paul R. Burley/cc-by-sa-4.0 View from the fort on Salvador © flickr.com - Ministério da Cultura/cc-by-2.0
<
>
View from the fort on Salvador © flickr.com - Ministério da Cultura/cc-by-2.0
A reconstruction of the fort was ordered in 1650 by Governor-General João Rodrigues de Vasconcelos e Sousa (1649-1654) after the Portuguese Restoration War. This period of building saw the construction of a turret at the highest point of the sand bar; it stands at 15 metres (49 ft). A further reconstruction in 1728 saw the appearance of a wall around the perimeter of the fort. By 1759 it was reported to have 54 protective plates of bronze and iron. It became part of a string of forts protecting the south of Salvador; the São Marcelo fort was placed between the Small Fort of Our Lady of Monserrate to the north and the Fort of Saint Peter and the São Paulo da Gamboa Battery to the south.

The fort served as a political prison in the 19th century. It held members of a local republican rebellion movement, the Federation of the Guanais, also known as the Revolt of the Guanais, in 1833. It later held Bento Gonçalves (1788-1847), a rebel leader of the Ragamuffin War. Gonçalves was transferred to the fort on August 26, 1837, but escaped a month later. Gonçalves spent time after his imprisonment at the fort in Salvador and Itaparica Island. The fort then held member of the Sabinada (1837–1838), a Bahian revolt that called for the abolition of slavery and the redistribution of land. Approximately 200 participants of the Malê revolt, a slave revolt of 1835, were held at the fort until their trial. The enslaved Africans and freedmen were subsequently executed, tortured, or deported to Africa.

Read more on SalvadorDaBahia.com – São Marcelo Fort and Wikipedia São Marcelo Fort (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




Recommended posts:

Share this post: (Please note data protection regulations before using buttons)

Theme Week Wales - Swansea

Theme Week Wales - Swansea

[caption id="attachment_153090" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Swansea Harbour Trust Building © jrw/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Swansea, officially the City and County of Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. It is Wales's second largest city. Swansea lies within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands. The City and County of Swansea had a population of 239,000 in 2011, making it the second ...

[ read more ]

Sharm el-Sheikh on the Red Sea

Sharm el-Sheikh on the Red Sea

[caption id="attachment_153626" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Daniel Csörföly[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Sharm el-Sheikh is a city situated on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, on the coastal strip along the Red Sea. Its population is approximately 35,000. Sharm el-Sheikh is the administrative hub of Egypt's South Sinai Governorate which includes the smaller coastal towns of Dahab and Nuweiba as well as the mountainous interior, Saint Catherine's Monastery (built between 548 and 565, the...

[ read more ]

Theme Week South Korea - Daegu

Theme Week South Korea - Daegu

[caption id="attachment_193280" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Dalgubeol Grand Bell at National Debt Repayment Movement Memorial Park © Timber Tank/cc-by-sa-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Daegu is the fourth-largest after Seoul, Busan, and Incheon, and the third-largest metropolitan area in the nation with over 2.5 million residents. Daegu and surrounding North Gyeongsang Province are often referred to as Daegu-Gyeongbuk, with a total population over 5 million. Daegu is located in south-eastern Korea about 80 km (50 mi) from t...

[ read more ]

Castle Combe in England

Castle Combe in England

[caption id="attachment_208151" align="aligncenter" width="590"] The Manor House Hotel © Adrian Pingstone[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Castle Combe is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 5 miles (8 km) northwest of the town of Chippenham. The village has two parts: one is in the narrow valley of the By Brook, while Upper Castle Combe is on higher ground to the east, on the B4039 road which links Chippenham with Chipping Sodbury. A motor racing circuit is to the south of the upper village. The village takes its ...

[ read more ]

The island of Stromboli

The island of Stromboli

[caption id="attachment_151800" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Stromboli Island © Steven W. Dengler[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Stromboli is a small island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the north coast of Sicily, containing one of the three active volcanoes in Italy. It is one of the eight Aeolian Islands, a volcanic arc north of Sicily. This name is a corruption of the Ancient Greek name Strongulē which was given to it because of its round swelling form. The island's population is between 400 and 850. The volcano has erupted man...

[ read more ]

Chappaqua in Westchester County

Chappaqua in Westchester County

[caption id="attachment_229546" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Rehoboth, one of the very first concrete homes, originally built as a barn, ever built in the US © Nat Postrigan/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Chappaqua is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of New Castle, in northern Westchester County, New York, United States. It is approximately 30 miles (50 km) north of New York City. The hamlet is served by the Chappaqua station of the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line. In the New York State Legislatur...

[ read more ]

Kharkiv in Ukraine

Kharkiv in Ukraine

[caption id="attachment_234261" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Central District © Oleksandr Malyon/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Kharkiv is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine. Located in the northeast of the country, it is the largest city of the historic region of Sloboda Ukraine. Kharkiv is the administrative centre of Kharkiv Oblast and of the surrounding Kharkiv Raion. It has a population of 1,421,125 (2022 est.). Kharkiv was founded in 1654 as a fortress, and grew to become a major centr...

[ read more ]

Rue de la Paix in Paris

Rue de la Paix in Paris

[caption id="attachment_239685" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Mbzt/cc-by-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The rue de la Paix (English: Peace Street) is a fashionable shopping street in the center of Paris. Located in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, running north from Place Vendôme and ending at the Opéra Garnier, it is best known for its jewellers, such as the shop opened by Cartier in 1898. Charles Frederick Worth was the first to open a couture house in the rue de la Paix. Many buildings on the street are inspired in des...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Amsterdam - The Rijksmuseum

Theme Week Amsterdam - The Rijksmuseum

[caption id="attachment_25287" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Mark Ahsmann/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Rijksmuseum (English: State Museum) is a Dutch national museum dedicated to arts and history in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, and the Concertgebouw. Rijksmuseum (about 20 current and former museums across The Netherlands) is the general name for a national museum in the Dutch language. When o...

[ read more ]

Islamorada in the Florida Keys

Islamorada in the Florida Keys

[caption id="attachment_161970" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Ex1le/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Islamorada, a "Village of Islands," is a village in Monroe County in Florida. It is located on the islands of Tea Table Key, Lower Matecumbe Key, Upper Matecumbe Key, Windley Key and Plantation Key in the Florida Keys. The village has a total population of 6,500. The name Islamorada (Original meaning: "Island Home" after the Pinder family schooner of that name), newly nicknamed, "The Purple Isle," came from ea...

[ read more ]

Return to TopReturn to Top
Arbroath Harbour © Fraser Muir/cc-by-3.0
Arbroath in Scotland

Arbroath or Aberbrothock is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus in Scotland,...

© Bernt Müller/cc-by-sa-2.0/de
Simon Dach Street in Berlin

Simon-Dach-Straße is a street that was laid out towards the end of the 19th century and is located in Berlin's...

Bassin de la Villette © Myrabella/cc-by-sa-3.0
19th arrondissement of Paris

The 19th arrondissement of Paris (XIXe arrondissement) is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In...

Schließen