São Marcelo Fort (), also known as ''Forte de Nossa Senhora do Pópulo e São Marcelo'' or ''Forte do Mar'', is located in

Salvador Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. It is located in small bit of land off the coast in the

Baía de Todos os Santos The Bay of All Saints (), also known as All Saints' Bay and Todos os Santos Bay, is the principal bay of the Brazilian state of Bahia, to which it gave its name. It sits on the eastern coast of Brazil, surrounding part of Bahia's capital Salva ...

. Standing on a small bank of reefs about 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 Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. It is the only cylindrical fort in Brazil. Its design follows those of

Castel Sant'Angelo Castel Sant'Angelo ( ), also known as Mausoleum of Hadrian (), is a towering rotunda (cylindrical building) in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. ...

in Italy and São Lourenço do Bugio Fort in Portugal. It is popularly known as the "Forte do Mar" (''Fort of the Sea''). It was built to protect the important port city

from threats; the city had the largest number of forts during the colonial period of Brazil.

History

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 The capture of Salvador was a military engagement between Portugal (at that time, united with Spain in the Iberian Union) and the Dutch West India Company, that occurred in 1624, and ended in the capture of the Brazilian city of Salvador by t ...

. 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 The recapture of Bahia (; ) was a Spanish–Portuguese military expedition in 1625 to retake the city of Bahia (now Salvador, Bahia, Salvador) in Brazil from the forces of the Dutch West India Company (WIC). In May 1624, Dutch WIC forces under ...

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 John Maurice of Nassau ( ; ; ; ; 17 June 1604 – 20 December 1679), called "the Brazilian" for his fruitful period as governor of Dutch Brazil, was Count and (from 1664) Prince of Nassau-Siegen. He served as ''Herrenmeister'' (equivalent to Gra ...

(1604-1679) between April and May, 1638. 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 The Restoration War (), historically known as the Acclamation War (''Guerra da Aclamação''), was the war between Portugal and Spain that began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon in 1668, bringing a forma ...

. This period of building saw the construction of a turret at the highest point of the sand bar; it stands at . 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 The Ragamuffin War, also known as the Ragamuffin Revolution or Heroic Decade, was a republican uprising that began in southern Brazil, in the province (current state) of Rio Grande do Sul in 1835. The rebels were led by Generals Bento Gonçalv ...

. 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 Itaparica is an island located at the entrance of Todos os Santos Bay on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in the state of Bahia, Brazil. It is located about from the city of Salvador, Bahia and covers . There are two municipalities on the islan ...

. The fort then held members of the

Sabinada The Sabinada (1837–1838) was a revolt by military officer Francisco Sabino that occurred in Brazil's Bahia province between 6 November 1837 and 16 March 1838. Calling for the abolition of slavery and the redistribution of land, the rebel " Ba ...

(1837–1838), a Bahian revolt that called for the abolition of slavery and the redistribution of land. Approximately 200 participants of the

Malê revolt Male, in biology, is the half of a sex system that produces sperm cells. Male may also refer to: Gender * Male, the gender of men and boys ** Man, a male adult ** Boy, a young male person, usually a child or adolescent ** Masculinity, attributes ...

, 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.

In popular culture

In 2008, the location served as the first pit stop of the 13th season of the American installment of ''

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality competition franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. ''The Amazing Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselv ...

''.

Protected status

The São Marcelo Fort was listed as a historic structure by the

National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage The National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute (, IPHAN) is a heritage register of the federal government of Brazil. It is responsible for the preservation of buildings, monuments, structures, objects and sites, as well as the register an ...

(IPHAN) in 1938. The structure was registered under the Book of Historical Works, Inscription 49 and Book of Fine Arts, Inscription 273-A. The directive is dated May 24, 1938.

Access

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.

Gallery

Image:Vista aérea do Forte de São Marcelo.jpg, Aerial View of the Fort Image:SMarceloFort-Salvador-CCBY.jpg, Fort View Image:Forte São Marcelo entrada.jpg, Entrance to the Fort Image:Salvador Sao Marcelo fort from sea 1.jpg, Fort viewed from the Sea Image:Forte São Marcelo interno.jpg, Inside the Fort

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sao Marcelo Fort Buildings and structures completed in 1623 17th-century fortifications Buildings and structures in Salvador, Bahia Coastal fortifications Forts in Brazil Portuguese colonial architecture in Brazil Sea forts National heritage sites of Bahia