This post is also on:
Português 
English
The Nossa Senhora de Monte Serrat Fort, originally known as the Castle of São Felipe, is considered to be an extraordinarily important example of our early fortified architecture, as it is the most archaic model of local defences that has survived without major transformations.
In this respect, it is perhaps the oldest in all of Brazil.
In fact, in Albernaz’s cartography of the first quarter of the 17th century, which also includes the Fort of Santo Alberto, the old Tower of Santo Antônio da Barra and the Tower of São Tiago de Água de Meninos, the Nossa Senhora de Monte Serrat Fort is the fourth represented in plan.
In this picture below, the fort looks the same as it does today, despite the renovations.
The Nossa Senhora de Monte Serrat Fort, originally called the Castle of São Felipe, has undergone several renovations throughout its history. These renovations were carried out to improve the fort’s defensive structure, adapt it to new military technologies, repair damage caused by attacks or the wear and tear of time and preserve its historical integrity.
Main renovations carried out at the Nossa Senhora de Monte Serrat Fort
1. Reforms by the Count of Castelo Melhor (1650-1654)
- During the rule of the Count of Castelo Melhor, the fort underwent its first significant renovations. These improvements were aimed at strengthening the fort’s structure and increasing its defensive capacity. The intention was to improve protection against attacks, especially after the first Dutch invasion, which took place in 1624. Although the exact details of the changes made are not widely documented, it is known that they included reinforcements to the structure and adaptations to the military needs of the time.
2. Reforms under the Viceroyalty of André de Melo e Castro (1735-1749)
- During the period in which André de Melo e Castro, Count of Galveias, served as Viceroy of Brazil, the fort underwent another series of renovations. These interventions, completed in 1742, were carried out to maintain the efficiency of the fort’s defensive structure, probably with improvements to the walls and bastions, as well as the replacement or maintenance of artillery and other military installations.
3. Góis Calmon’s restoration (1924-1927)
- In 1927, during the government of Góis Calmon, the fort underwent a significant restoration project. This intervention was part of a larger effort to ‘beautify’ the areas of Montserrat. The restoration included rebuilding deteriorated parts of the structure, cleaning and restoring the turrets, and generally improving the state of conservation of the fort. A commission was formed to supervise the work, made up of specialists such as Captain of the Navy Cunha Menezes, Professor Alberto de Assis and engineer Américo Furtado de Simas.
4. Small reforms by the Brazilian Army
- In subsequent decades, the fort was kept under the guard of the Brazilian Army, which carried out minor renovations to maintain the fort’s structural integrity and original appearance. These renovations were smaller in scale and focused mainly on basic maintenance, ensuring that the fort remained accessible for visits and preserving it as a historical heritage site.
5. Other Interventions and Contemporary Use
- In addition to these more notable renovations, over the years the fort has also undergone minor conservation interventions to prevent deterioration caused by climatic conditions and the passage of time. Today, the fort is a tourist and historical site in Salvador, used for cultural and educational events, which requires ongoing maintenance and preservation.
Albernaz’s plan is the oldest iconographic document about the fort.
In fact, from the point of view of the city’s image, Nossa Senhora de Monte Serrat Fort is a reference like many other forts, but quite special due to its privileged position and extreme harmony with the morphology of the terrain.
Its round bastions were very much in keeping with the Italian fortified architecture of the transition, albeit on an infinitely more modest scale.
História do Forte de Nossa Senhora de Monserrate
For the less-knowledgeable reader, it should be emphasised that the fort’s name has nothing to do with the Baluarte de Monserrate.
This was part of the approximate defensive perimeter of Salvador, probably located on the hillside of the city, below the Fortress of Santo Antônio Além-do-Carmo, as Captain João Coutinho described it.
Assuming that it was built during the time of D. Francisco de Sousa, as Teodoro Sampaio and many other illustrious researchers of our history believed, we can imagine that its design may well be the work of Baccio de Filicaia, who was in the service of that governor.
In his work on the military history of Brazil, written in the 18th century, Colonel José Mirales believes that it dates back to the time of Governor-General Manoel Teles Barreto (1583-1587).
What is certain is that it was already part of the fortresses mentioned by Diogo de Campos Moreno in his 1609 report.
Although it had the capacity to receive a greater number of pieces, Monserrate had no more than six or seven, since ‘they shouldn’t give a pygmy the same weapons as a giant […]’, as Master-decamp Miguel Pereira da Costa, an expert on the subject, believed.
In fact, Caldas, who saw it as an ‘old and defective fortification’, found it in the mid-18th century with nine pieces, which he considered to be more than enough for its firepower.
He also found it with the two front turrets cut down to the height of the barbette to increase the line of fire. These turrets were rebuilt at some point in the past.
Their ‘guardhouses’, as they are commonly known, are in fact tiny turrets whose function was to flank the curtains with musket fire (a type of portable firearm).
Because it had a barbette parapet, this fortress was always frowned upon by the gunners, as they were more exposed to enemy fire.
All of these devices, however, were intended to increase the fort’s firepower, making it receive a greater number of pieces and unblocking the visibility of the frontal shot.
It had, among other things, a defect peculiar to many fortifications in Salvador, which was the existence of a stepfather, formed by the hill where the headquarters of the Coordination of Environmental Resources now stands, at a higher altitude than the Monserrate stronghold.
Unlike our city’s other defences, which have never fought against an external enemy, the former Fort or Castle of São Felipe, now the Fort of Nossa Senhora de Monserrate, has been involved in a number of battles over the course of its four hundred years of existence.
The behaviour of its defenders is, however, a source of controversy.
During the first Dutch invasion, it was taken by the Batavos, after having exchanged fire with some ships of the enemy squadron.
His resistance to the assault seems not to have been tenacious because, once the city was occupied, there was no alternative but to retreat.
What’s more, it wasn’t difficult to land on the beaches of the Itapagipe peninsula and cut off communication with the city’s garrison.
There is a new disagreement among historians about what happened at Monserrate Fort with the arrival of Fradique de Tolledo in 1625.
Some say that, at the sight of the powerful fleet, the Dutch retreated to the city and abandoned it, a prudent and salutary measure.
Aldenburgk says that his garrison even fired on the ships of the Portuguese-Spanish squadron, then withdrew the following night.
On the other hand, those who wanted to valorise the Portuguese achievements, such as the military man Francisco de Brito Freire, author of História da Guerra Brasílica, speak of the fort being taken by surprise. Where bravado abounds, historical truth is lacking.
Thirteen years had passed since the Portuguese reoccupation of the fort when, ‘on the afternoon of 21 April, Major van den Brand advanced with some people along the beach, leading five pieces, and took it from Captain Pedro Aires de Aguirre, who had few soldiers and six cannons’.
It was the invasion of Nassau of 1638. The Dutch only vacated it when they returned to Pernambuco.
In particular, Aguirre had been a corporal at the fort since 1618 and was certainly an old man.
The Nossa Senhora de Monte Serrat Fort would hibernate for some two hundred years, waking up sporadically from its nap with a celebratory salute when it was occupied by the Sabinada rebels in 1837.
It was ‘his third warrior adventure’.
The seditionists, who took it with the help of the liner Brasília, exchanged fire with ships from the Imperial Navy, but surrendered to the more modern artillery of the corvette Regeneração and the brig Três de Maio, which landed the garrisons supported by a legalist detachment that advanced by land.
During the Second Reign, the Christie question, which involved incidents with ships and resulted in a diplomatic break with England, raised the issue of remodelling the fort.
This was carried out in 1863, according to the recommendations of French Colonel Beaurepaire Rohan, who was then collaborating with the country’s security.
Map of the Tourist Attractions of Salvador da Bahia
From then on, there is no knowledge of any substantial intervention to preserve it until, in a deplorable state, it was the object of restoration work during the government of Góis Calmon (1924 to 1928), as part of the project to ‘beautify’ the areas of Monserrate.
At that time, a commission was set up which included Captain Cunha Menezes, Professor Alberto de Assis and engineer Américo Furtado de Simas.
The most recent restorations, undertaken by the Brazilian Army, were minor and did not alter the appearance of the defence.
The Nossa Senhora de Monte Serrat Fort is located at Ponta de Humait in Salvador, Bahia.
History of the Nossa Senhora de Monte Serrat Fort – Salvador de Bahia Tourist Guide
