EnglishFort
Arguin [Arguim], Guinea-Bissau | Gulf of Guinea | São Tomé and Príncipe, Mauritania
Military Architecture
The oldest known iconography of this fort belongs to the Vingboons Atlas, a Dutch codex from 1665 that reproduces two illustrations dating from about 1633, i.e., at the start of the Dutch period – and, therefore, with the image of the Portuguese construction. Its shape was more or less that of a regular quadrilateral, with crenelated walls on the land side. It was conquered by the Dutch in 1633 or 1638. Besides the coastal island where they settled, there are the so-called islets of Arguin (isles of Garças, Naar, Tider, Tarafal, and Adegete), which then provided food for the colonizers. The fort is located on an island that is now a nature sanctuary, the Arguin Bank National Park and is of difficult access. Only some walls remain of the building, which are occasionally visible under the sand.