Mozambique · 16th century
The Fort of São Sebastião lies at the northern end of Stone Town on the Island of Mozambique. It is the oldest complete fort still standing in sub-Saharan Africa. Construction by the Portuguese began in 1558, and it took about fifty years to complete.
Immediately beyond the fort is the recently restored Chapel of Nossa Senhora de Baluarte, built in 1522, which is considered to be the oldest European building in the southern hemisphere. It is also one of the best examples of Manueline vaulted architecture in Mozambique. This was shown in the 1964 movie Africa Addio / Africa Blood and Guts
Text adapted from “Fort São Sebastião (Mozambique)” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Fort São Sebastião ranks #3,727 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #1 of the 8 mapped in Mozambique. Founded 1558, it is older than 36% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 891 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,038 times in the last 60 days, more than 51% of the atlas. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Mozambique compares in the castle statistics.
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