Fort Prince of Beira

Forte Principe da Beira (Portuguese for "Prince of Beira Fortress") is a fortification on the lower part of the Guaporé River close to its confluence with the Mamoré River in the Brazilian state of Rondônia.

The fort was built from 1776 to 1783 and is one of only two forts that the Portuguese Empire built in the inner regions of Brazil. It was named after the heir of Portugal, styled as the Prince of Beira. The Portuguese built it to secure their border against the expanding Spanish Empire, which controlled the areas to the southwest of Rondônia. The military use of the fort was abandoned in 1889.

The fort has an outer wall with a height of 10 m and a length of 1 km. It has four bastions, which originally carried 14 cannons each. Only one of those cannons still remains today. Inside the wall there are ruins of a chapel, soldier quarters, a prison and various utility buildings.

Tekst overgenomen uit “Forte Príncipe da Beira” op de Engelstalige Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Fort Prince of Beira staat op plaats 3.874 van 5.793 in de bekendheidsranglijst van deze atlas en op plaats 18 van de 78 die de atlas in Brazilië in kaart brengt. Gebouwd in 1783, en daarmee ouder dan 17% van de gedateerde bouwwerken in de atlas — een van de 360 bouwwerken in de atlas die uit de 18e eeuw stammen. Zie hoe dat zich verhoudt in de kastelenstatistiek.

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