Versão portuguesa aqui.

GPS 38.698389422307514, -9.384050579076899

The Fort of Santo António da Barra (also known as Fort of Santo António do Estoril, Forte Velho or Forte de Salazar) is located overlooking the sea, in the parish of Estoril, in the village of São João do Estoril, municipality of Cascais, District from Lisbon, in Portugal.

It is considered the main fortification between the Citadel of Cascais and the Fort of São Julião da Barra.

Description

Maritime fortification, it features an irregular star-shaped polygonal plan, with two outer bastions connected by ravelins in "V" torn by embrasures, and cylindrical watchtowers with domes at the vertices. In the center of the embankment stands a casemate building, also square in plan, with a chapel and vaulted barracks, sheltered by a second ring of walls consisting of two bulwarks, connected by horseshoe ravelins. Between the two lines of walls there is a moat. Its planimetry stands out for its difference in relation to the other fortresses of Barra do Tejo.

History

Design and construction

Its structure dates back to the Philippine Dynasty, when Philip I commissioned the Neapolitan military engineer and architect, Friar Giovanni Vicenzo Casale, to draw up a plan of Cascais and a map of the coast to São Julião da Barra. Among the monarch's concerns was the improvement of the defensive system of the Lisbon bar (1586), an area through which the Duke of Alba's campaign to seize the Portuguese capital and throne took place, and the threat of English and Dutch privateers. D. Filipe therefore intended to avoid access to Lisbon by river and possible landings on the coastline between São Julião da Barra and Cascais.

It is Casale — who was also in charge of the works to enlarge the Tower of Belém and the Forte da Cabeça Seca — who designed this fortification, begun in 1590. in rammed earth, clad in wood and masonry — it was replaced by a new, more ambitious one, which adapted an almost quadrangular plan, with four angular bulwarks at the vertices, the largest of which would face the land. On the sea side, a walled building with a rectangular plan was built, along the inner sides of the bastions, with the function of a low battery, with artillery, the body of the guard and the entrance torn in the southwest wall. The fort was surrounded by an outer moat, with a counter-scarpment and a covered road. The interior of the structure was organized in two oblong buildings, separated by a narrow covered courtyard, the soldiers' barracks, warehouses and other necessary dependencies for their living in space. Between these two buildings is the small chapel in honor of Santo António.

Construction took just over a year, and the king received a letter from Casale, on February 16, 1591, informing him that «El castillo de Santo António como escrivi a V. Mag. it is already in a way that people and artillery can be brought in.»

Restoration War and period of decline

After the War of Independence Restoration, when the Portuguese Crown undertook a wide reform of the land and sea fortifications, under the direction of the Count of Cantanhede, D. António Luís de Meneses. The fort would thus be subject to modernization and expansion works that altered the initial project in order to reinforce the existing firepower.

However, and despite its importance, the structure is losing its strategic function, being abandoned and rapidly deteriorating. In this way, and in the following eras, it would be intervened several times, most of them undergoing practically complete reforms. At the end of the 19th century, no longer carrying out any of the functions for which it was designed, a Fiscal Guard post was installed there. Later, from 1915, its facilities began to be used as a summer camp by the Instituto Feminino de Educação e Trabalho de Odivelas.

In the middle of the 20th century, services were carried out to remodel the premises, adapted as the summer residence of the President of the Municipality of Cascais.

One of its most emblematic periods results from the choice, by the President of the Council of Ministers, António de Oliveira Salazar, to establish his seasonal residence there. It was in the fort that, on August 3, 1968, Salazar suffered a domestic accident, when he fell trying to sit on a chair. This episode was decisive in the decline of his regime. The worsening of his condition led to the appointment, on September 18, of Prof. Marcello Caetano as Chairman of the Board.

Later, the fort was classified as a Property of Public Interest through Decree nº 129, of September 29, 1977.

XXI century

Following the 2013 order that dictated the closure of the Odivelas Institute at the end of the 2014/2015 school year, the site was closed and abandoned. Following this event, the Municipality of Cascais signed a protocol aimed at transferring the site from the central government to the municipality. At the same time, the municipality defined a plan that would see the installation of a research center linked to the sea.

The first news about the decay of the place occurred in 2016, when a fire was reported in one of the compartments of the fort. In December 2017, the condition of the property was denounced in a report by the weekly newspaper Expresso, followed shortly after by reports by other media, such as SIC and RTP. Following a report on RTP1's Linha da Frente program, in February 2018, the Ministry of National Defense proceeded to place notices around the fort's perimeter, but did not carry out any repairs to prevent unauthorized entry to the site. For its part, the Municipality of Cascais regretted the lack of initiative for the recovery of the fort, estimated at 6 million euros, and the cause reaches Parliament and the courts.

On March 13, 2018, and for one year, the property was handed over by the Ministry of Defense to the Municipality of Cascais, which proceeded with the recovery of the fort. The first public event at the site consisted of the April 25th celebrations. Since March 2019 it has been open to the public on weekends and holidays and in September of that year it became part of the list of military buildings to be sold published in Diário da República.

Full list of Geochaching below:

https://mirror.xyz/madeinpt.eth/I5tjF3sn6ugnUw3nBnKOpOUr2DEh_g6cTN-0hivKCgc

*Released*✅ *Reviewed*✅ Approved✅

Curator Body
0x38E76BCd1D7ff8675Ec4E30434c70123953Cf8C1 0x49478e011f68357F4Af38B92EADa8D7ddfE7e7Dc 0x68af894920213658F54aCB51694aF9AD0D2446fC 0xe44305293dbfCd29abfcb1FBaFa7B41e6C696953 0x083B4bE22ACA5dC213085F59a639663fB7C6C4d6

Versão portuguesa aqui.

GPS 38.698389422307514, -9.384050579076899

The Fort of Santo António da Barra (also known as Fort of Santo António do Estoril, Forte Velho or Forte de Salazar) is located overlooking the sea, in the parish of Estoril, in the village of São João do Estoril, municipality of Cascais, District from Lisbon, in Portugal.

It is considered the main fortification between the Citadel of Cascais and the Fort of São Julião da Barra.

Description

Maritime fortification, it features an irregular star-shaped polygonal plan, with two outer bastions connected by ravelins in "V" torn by embrasures, and cylindrical watchtowers with domes at the vertices. In the center of the embankment stands a casemate building, also square in plan, with a chapel and vaulted barracks, sheltered by a second ring of walls consisting of two bulwarks, connected by horseshoe ravelins. Between the two lines of walls there is a moat. Its planimetry stands out for its difference in relation to the other fortresses of Barra do Tejo.

History

Design and construction

Its structure dates back to the Philippine Dynasty, when Philip I commissioned the Neapolitan military engineer and architect, Friar Giovanni Vicenzo Casale, to draw up a plan of Cascais and a map of the coast to São Julião da Barra. Among the monarch's concerns was the improvement of the defensive system of the Lisbon bar (1586), an area through which the Duke of Alba's campaign to seize the Portuguese capital and throne took place, and the threat of English and Dutch privateers. D. Filipe therefore intended to avoid access to Lisbon by river and possible landings on the coastline between São Julião da Barra and Cascais.

It is Casale — who was also in charge of the works to enlarge the Tower of Belém and the Forte da Cabeça Seca — who designed this fortification, begun in 1590. in rammed earth, clad in wood and masonry — it was replaced by a new, more ambitious one, which adapted an almost quadrangular plan, with four angular bulwarks at the vertices, the largest of which would face the land. On the sea side, a walled building with a rectangular plan was built, along the inner sides of the bastions, with the function of a low battery, with artillery, the body of the guard and the entrance torn in the southwest wall. The fort was surrounded by an outer moat, with a counter-scarpment and a covered road. The interior of the structure was organized in two oblong buildings, separated by a narrow covered courtyard, the soldiers' barracks, warehouses and other necessary dependencies for their living in space. Between these two buildings is the small chapel in honor of Santo António.

Construction took just over a year, and the king received a letter from Casale, on February 16, 1591, informing him that «El castillo de Santo António como escrivi a V. Mag. it is already in a way that people and artillery can be brought in.»

Restoration War and period of decline

After the War of Independence Restoration, when the Portuguese Crown undertook a wide reform of the land and sea fortifications, under the direction of the Count of Cantanhede, D. António Luís de Meneses. The fort would thus be subject to modernization and expansion works that altered the initial project in order to reinforce the existing firepower.

However, and despite its importance, the structure is losing its strategic function, being abandoned and rapidly deteriorating. In this way, and in the following eras, it would be intervened several times, most of them undergoing practically complete reforms. At the end of the 19th century, no longer carrying out any of the functions for which it was designed, a Fiscal Guard post was installed there. Later, from 1915, its facilities began to be used as a summer camp by the Instituto Feminino de Educação e Trabalho de Odivelas.

In the middle of the 20th century, services were carried out to remodel the premises, adapted as the summer residence of the President of the Municipality of Cascais.

One of its most emblematic periods results from the choice, by the President of the Council of Ministers, António de Oliveira Salazar, to establish his seasonal residence there. It was in the fort that, on August 3, 1968, Salazar suffered a domestic accident, when he fell trying to sit on a chair. This episode was decisive in the decline of his regime. The worsening of his condition led to the appointment, on September 18, of Prof. Marcello Caetano as Chairman of the Board.

Later, the fort was classified as a Property of Public Interest through Decree nº 129, of September 29, 1977.

XXI century

Following the 2013 order that dictated the closure of the Odivelas Institute at the end of the 2014/2015 school year, the site was closed and abandoned. Following this event, the Municipality of Cascais signed a protocol aimed at transferring the site from the central government to the municipality. At the same time, the municipality defined a plan that would see the installation of a research center linked to the sea.

The first news about the decay of the place occurred in 2016, when a fire was reported in one of the compartments of the fort. In December 2017, the condition of the property was denounced in a report by the weekly newspaper Expresso, followed shortly after by reports by other media, such as SIC and RTP. Following a report on RTP1's Linha da Frente program, in February 2018, the Ministry of National Defense proceeded to place notices around the fort's perimeter, but did not carry out any repairs to prevent unauthorized entry to the site. For its part, the Municipality of Cascais regretted the lack of initiative for the recovery of the fort, estimated at 6 million euros, and the cause reaches Parliament and the courts.

On March 13, 2018, and for one year, the property was handed over by the Ministry of Defense to the Municipality of Cascais, which proceeded with the recovery of the fort. The first public event at the site consisted of the April 25th celebrations. Since March 2019 it has been open to the public on weekends and holidays and in September of that year it became part of the list of military buildings to be sold published in Diário da República.

Full list of Geochaching below:

https://mirror.xyz/madeinpt.eth/I5tjF3sn6ugnUw3nBnKOpOUr2DEh_g6cTN-0hivKCgc

*Released*✅ *Reviewed*✅ Approved✅

Curator Body
0x38E76BCd1D7ff8675Ec4E30434c70123953Cf8C1 0x49478e011f68357F4Af38B92EADa8D7ddfE7e7Dc 0x68af894920213658F54aCB51694aF9AD0D2446fC 0xe44305293dbfCd29abfcb1FBaFa7B41e6C696953 0x083B4bE22ACA5dC213085F59a639663fB7C6C4d6