Fort of Saint Francis or the Fort of Queijo

Olinda, Pernambuco, Brazil

Military Architecture

During the first half of the 17th century, Olinda was fortified by a palisade on the coastal side of the inhabited area, which is depicted in period prints. At the far southern end of this fence stood a redoubt, the Guarita (guardhouse) of João Albuquerque. On the other side, by the Franciscan convent, was a small fort which the locals called by various names: the Fort of Queijo (cheese) at times, of Saint Francis at others; Quebra-Pratos (broken plates) was another persistent designation. The stone and mortar structure raised by the engineer Cristóvão Álvares was in a state of ruin by 1781. It was rebuilt after that year and restored in the early 19th century by the then governor Caetano Pinto Montenegro and was thereafter also called the Fort of ‘Montenegro’. It is actually a battery, with no parade ground; the barracks are behind the curtain wall. It has been duly restored and is one of the city’s tourist attractions.

• José Luiz Mota Menezes