Fort of the Holy Cross (São Roque do Paraguaçu)

Fort Santa Cruz do Paraguaçu is located on the right bank of the mouth of the Paraguaçu River, in the current city of Maragojipe, state of Bahia, dominating the access to the Recôncavo Baiano.

Three forts existed in the region in 1659, the most important of which was the Fort Santa Cruz de Paraguaçu, also known as the Forte Real de Paraguaçu, Forte da Barra do Paraguaçu, or Paraguaçu Fort. There is no consensus among scholars regarding its original builders. Its current shape probably dates to the beginning of the 18th century, built over an earlier structure erected in the first half of the 17th century.

At the time of the Dutch invasion of Brazil, the Fort Santa Cruz crossed fire with the Fort of Forca in the opposite bank of the river, and its task was to block the access of invaders to the hinterland of Iguape and the sugar mills located there, along with the towns of Maragogipe and Cachoeira. A typical coastal fort, it was built out of stone, with brick sentry boxes, and was flanked by water on three of its six sides,

In 1759 the fort possessed seven dismounted artillery pieces and its barracks were in a ruined condition, according to a report by engineer José António Caldas. Caldas produced a sketch of the fort, featuring an irregular hexagon plan and battlements. Over the courtyard on the entry side, a single storey building housed the service quarters of the fort, such as the command house, troop accommodations, mess etc. It was commanded by a captain.

It was restored in 1762 by the government of Bahia, probably by João Abreu de Carvalho Contreiras. After a new inspection by the aforementioned engineer José António Caldas, the barracks were restored.

The fort underwent maintenance works after the arrival in Brazil of the Portuguese royal family, during the Peninsular War.

After 1816 it was considered to lack military use and as was decommissioned, decaying as a result. It was noted by Emperor Pedro II in 1859, when he registered in his travel log:

"November 4 - (...) 2 and 40' - On the left bank [of the Paraguaçu river] one can see the old fountain, where the ships of Bahia used to come for water. On the right side a little further on a spit of land stand the ruins of the fortlet called of Paraguaçu. 2 3/4 - On the left bank, the site of the German [...]".

Text adapted from “Fort Santa Cruz do Paraguaçu” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Fort of the Holy Cross (São Roque do Paraguaçu) ranks #7,934 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #64 of the 80 mapped in Brazil. Founded c. 1700, it is older than 22% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 626 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Brazil compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗