Fort Kalamata is a coastal

star fort A bastion fort or ''trace italienne'' (a phrase derived from non-standard French, meaning 'Italian outline') is a fortification in a style developed during the early modern period in response to the ascendancy of gunpowder weapons such as c ...

that was built by the Portuguese on the island of

Ternate Ternate (), also known as the City of Ternate (; ), is the List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city with the largest population in the province of North Maluku and an island in the Maluku Islands, Indonesia. It was the ''de facto'' provi ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Maluku Islands The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonics, Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West ...

. Formerly known as Benteng Kayu Merah (''Red Wood Fort'') because it is located in

Kayu Merah Congee ( , derived from Tamil ), is a form of savoury rice porridge made by boiling rice in a large amount of water until the rice softens. Depending on rice–water ratio, the thickness of congee varies from a Western oatmeal porridge to a g ...

village, Originally the fort was named Santa Lucia, but later it became famous for Fort Kalamata. Kalamata itself comes from the name Pengeran Kalamata, the younger brother of the Sultan of Ternate Madarsyah It is located at the south eastern corner of the island 1 km south of Bastiong on the edge of the water. It is now open to the public.

History

Kalamata Fortress was first built by the Portuguese (

Francisco Serrão Francisco Serrão (died 1521) was a Portuguese explorer and a possible cousin of Ferdinand Magellan. His 1512 voyage was the first known European sailing east past Malacca through modern Indonesia and the East Indies. He became a confidant of S ...

) in 1540 to support of Portuguese efforts to monopolise the lucrative

clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands, or Moluccas, in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring, or Aroma compound, fragrance in fin ...

trade and to entrench their dominance over other European powers. Then, the fort was restored by the Governor General of the Indies Netherlands,

Pieter Both Pieter Both (1568 – 6 March 1615) was the first Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. Not much is known of his early years. In 1599, Both was already an admiral in the New, or Brabant Company. In that year, he traveled to the East Indie ...

in the year 1610 who became the dominant power in Maluku. Kalamata Fortress was occupied by Spain in 1625 after it was emptied of Geen Huigen Schapen (Portuguese). After being left behind by Spain, this fort was occupied by Dutch. Then this fortress was repaired by "Mayor Lutzow" in the year 1799. The fort was captured by the British when they conquered the Spice Islands in 1810. Fort Kalamata was restored by the Government of Indonesia in 1994 and inaugurated after the full post in 1997. In 2005, Ternate City Government contemplated this game by adding yard and house to protect the fortress.

Construction

Kalamata Fortress is designed to resemble four corners of the compass which has four pointed bastions and has a viewfinder. Kalamata Fortress is on the coastline and the back of the fort looks Tidore Island and Maitara

History

Construction

References

See also