Fortaleza do Monte

The Fortaleza do Monte (Portuguese for Mount Fortress, also Monte Forte; officially Fortaleza de Nossa Senhora do Monte de São Paulo, in English: Fortress of Our Lady of the Mount of St. Paul; Chinese: 大砲台; Cantonese Yale: daaih paau yìh) is a fort in Santo António in Macau. It is the historical military centre of Macau. The fort forms part of the "Historic Centre of Macau" and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The fort was built between 1617 and 1626 on the 52-metre tall Mount Hill, located directly east of the Ruins of Saint Paul's. It was constructed to protect the properties of the Jesuits (mainly Portuguese Jesuits) in Macau, especially from pirates. Later, the fort was taken over by Francisco Mascarenhas, the first governor of Macau, as the governor's residence.

The fort occupies an area of roughly 8,000 square metres. Thirty-two muzzle-loading cannon were placed around the fort's walls, and the two corners of the southeastern fort wall have small watchtowers. The fort proved crucial in successfully holding off the attempted Dutch invasion of Macau in 1622.

Tekst overgenomen uit “Fortaleza do Monte” op de Engelstalige Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Fortaleza do Monte staat op plaats 1.130 van 5.793 in de bekendheidsranglijst van deze atlas en op plaats 29 van de 120 die de atlas in China in kaart brengt. Gebouwd in 1617, en daarmee ouder dan 34% van de gedateerde bouwwerken in de atlas — een van de 399 bouwwerken in de atlas die uit de 17e eeuw stammen. Zie hoe dat zich verhoudt in de kastelenstatistiek.

Bekijk op de interactieve kastelenkaart →

Lees het volledige verhaal op Wikipedia ↗