St. Angelo Fort (also known as Kannur Fort or Kannur Kotta) is a fort facing the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

, situated 3 km from Canannore (Kannur), a city in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

state,

south India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

History

In 1498, during

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

's visit to India, the local Kolathiri king granted the land to Portuguese to build a settlement in present-day Kerala. On 23 October 1505, he gave the Portuguese leader Francisco de Almeida the permission to build a fort at the site. The construction activity began the very next day, on 24 October 1505, when Goncalo Gil Barbosa - the Portuguese factor of Cannanore (Kannur) - laid the foundation stone. The construction of the wooden fort was completed on 30 October 1505: its first Captain was Lourenco Britto, who led a garrison of 150 Portuguese men, and controlled two ships in the sea. After the fort was completed, Almeida began using the title "Viceroy", and in 1507 he started the construction of a stone fort at the site. The fort was later attacked in vain by the local Indian ruler Zamorin and Kolathiri in the Siege of Cannanore (1507). Fort_at_Kannur

In August 1509 Almeida, refusing to recognize Afonso de Albuquerque's as the new Portuguese governor to supersede himself, arrested him in this fortress after having fought the naval Battle of Diu. Afonso de Albuquerque was released after six months' confinement and become governor on the arrival of the grand-marshal of Portugal with a large fleet, in October 1509. The fort provided naval supplies for the

Portuguese conquest of Goa The Portuguese conquest of Goa occurred when the governor Afonso de Albuquerque captured the city in 1510 from the Sultanate of Bijapur. Old Goa became the capital of Portuguese India, which included territories such as Fort Manuel of Cochin, ...

and the Portuguese battles against the Mamluk. As the local Portuguese settlement at Kannur had no sources of revenue, the fort's expenses were met with funding from Goa, the seat of Portuguese rule in India. On 15 February 1663, the Dutch captured the fort from the Portuguese. They modernised the fort and built the bastions Hollandia, Zeelandia and Frieslandia that are the major features of the present structure. The original Portuguese fort was pulled down later. A painting of this fort and the fishing ferry behind it can be seen in the

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museumplein, Museum Square in the stadsdeel, borough of Amsterdam-Zuid, Amsterdam South, ...

. The Dutch sold the fort to king

Ali Raja The Sultan Ali Raja or Ali Raja or Adi Raja was the title of the Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the ...

of Arakkal in 1772. In 1790 the British seized it and used it as their chief military station in Malabar until 1947. The fort is in the Cannanore Cantonment area. It is fairly well preserved as a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India. St Angelo's fort is a most important historical monument and a popular tourist attraction. Six Tourism Policeman are posted here for protection duty. In 2015, thousands of cannonballs weighing several kilos were discovered from the Fort premises. The

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...

, which led the excavation, believes these were buried as part of military preparedness.

Present status

The '' Moppila Bay Harbor'' and '' Arakkal Mosque'' are near the fort. The fort is now well-maintained under the supervision of the

. The fort is open to tourists. File:St.angelo fort side view.jpg, St. Angelo Fort File:Kannur Fort gate.jpg, The Fort Gate File:Kannur-Fort-22.jpg, Kannur fort, inside view File:Kannur-Fort-10.JPG, The Grave stone of Dutch commandents wife and two children with Dutch inscriptions File:Kannur-fort-27.jpg, The watchtower File:kannur-fort-19.jpg, The

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

inside the fort after the restoration File:Kannur fort chapel.jpg, Chapel inside the fort different view File:Kannur-fort-6.jpg, The stairway leads to the top of the fort wall. Note that the entire fort is made with

laterite Laterite is a soil type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by intensive and prolo ...

material. File:Kannur-Fort-8.jpg, Remains of the early oil lamp

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

inside the fort File:Kannur-Fort-13.jpg, Inside view of the army barracks File:kannurfort9a.jpg, Another view from the top of the stable File:Kannur-Fort-16.jpg, The old entrance to the fort File:St. Angelo's Fort (4334331332).jpg, Entrance to the fort File:Kannur-Fort-and-Arabian-Sea.jpg, Kannur Fort and Arabian Sea File:Kannur fort gun.JPG, A

cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...

at Kannur fort File:Kannur fort.jpg,

Cannons A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during t ...

at Kannur fort File:Kannur fort entrance.JPG, Main entrance File:Kannur fort aerial view.JPG, View from the top File:St. Angelo Fort, Kannur.JPG, St. Angelo Fort, Kannur

References

{{Kannur , state=expanded Forts in Kerala Portuguese forts in India Colonial Kerala Buildings and structures in Kannur Portuguese in Kerala Archaeological sites in Kerala Buildings and structures completed in 1505 1505 establishments in India 1500s establishments in Portuguese India Tourist attractions in Kannur district 16th-century forts in India Monuments of National Importance in Kerala