Fort of the Açougue

The Fort of the Açougue (Portuguese: Forte do Açougue), ruins of a 16th-century fortification located in the municipality of Angra do Heroísmo, along the southern coast of Terceira, Portuguese archipelago of the Azores.

Fort of the Açougue
Forte do Açougue
Terceira, Central, name=Azores in Portugal
TypeFort
Site information
OwnerPortuguese Republic
Open to
the public		Public
Site history
Built16th century
MaterialsBasalt

History

Its construction remotes from the Portuguese succession crisis of 1580, sometime between 1579 and 1581, when attacks by pirates in the mid-Atlantic threatened the safety and security of New World treasure ships. The Corregedor of the Azores, Ciprião de Figueiredo e Vasconcelos initiated the construction of several forts that ringed the coasts of Terceira, using the plans of Italian military engineer Tommaso Benedetto as its basis.

The chronicler Gaspar Frutuoso referred to this fortification in the explanations in his Saudades da Terra, sometime in the 16th century:

"At the fort called Açougue: [there are] Two pieces of strained iron, of 10 quintais and 30 arráteis; another piece of iron of 9 quintais [900 kilograms (2,000 lb)] and 20 arráteis [13.77 kilograms (30.4 lb)]; two of bronze of 140 arráteis [64.26 kilograms (141.7 lb)], with crowns and crescent moons; 115 projectile of lead with lead bullets pear the grinders, ten...projectiles, twelve alcanzias [hand-thrown grenades]."[1]

Architecture

By the end of the 20th century there little more than ruins of this fortification, nor the remains of its foundations.

References
Notes
  1. Gaspar Frutuoso (Saudades da Terra), p.89
Sources
  • Mota, Valdemar (1993–1994), "Fortificação da Ilha Terceira", Boletim do Instituto Histórico da Ilha Terceira, LI–LII, Instituto Histórico da Ilha Terceira
  • Vieira, Alberto (1987), "Da poliorcética à fortificação nos Açores: introdução ao estudo do sistema defensivo nos Açores nos séculos XVI-XIX", Boletim do Instituto Histórico da Ilha Terceira, XLV, tomo II, Instituto Histórico da Ilha Terceira
  • Frutuoso, Gaspar, Jerónimo Cabral (ed.), Saudades da Terra (in Portuguese), VI, Ponta Delgada (Azores), Portugal: Instituto Cultural de Ponta Delgada

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