The St Joseph of Macapá Fortress is one of the main military buildings in Brazil and one of the most important monuments of the eighteenth century. Built with the purpose of defending the Amazon, especially from the prospect of a French invasion (the French had already occupied the territory of Guyana), it occupies a vast area on the left bank of the mouth of the Amazon River in the capital of Amapá. The city was founded in 1758, just before the construction of the architectural and historical landmark that is now one of its main attractions.
After decades of mismatch between what the Portuguese Crown believed and what was effectively performed in its foreign policy in the Amazon – an area considered strategic for its continental size and proximity to the eastern slopes of the Andes – the construction of the fortress was authorized by then King Dom José I. Under the supervision of the Prime Minister, the Marquis of Pombal, and his direct administration of the Grão-Pará and Maranhão Captaincies, construction began on 29 June 1764. The project was designed by Henrique Antônio Gallucio, who, while making the necessary adaptations to local conditions, adopted the model of defensive bases recommended by Sebastién La Pay, the French Marquis de Vauban, and by Manoel de Azevedo Fortes.
The design system used was a square with pentagonal bastions at the corners, which are named after Catholic saints: Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, St Joseph, St Peter and Mary, Mother of God. Inside this square was a lowered plaza with eight buildings arranged in pairs (one of them a chapel). There was a rainwater drainage system in the centre and on the sides. On the edge was a dry trench that surrounded the main square, the revelim, which, in the original design, was also surrounded by this trench and connected to the terrace by a wooden walkway.
It took nearly two decades to build, with some hitches like removing the stones from the Pedreira River, 32km away. The production centres were the quarries themselves, with the extraction and the processing of natural stone; the limestone factories, which were the basis for the formation of the mortar mixture (limestone, sand, clay and water); the potteries, producing bricks and tiles; and the carts, canoes, and oarsmen. On 19 March 1782, with one hundred and seven large-calibre artillery pieces, St Joseph of Macapá Fortress was inaugurated. However, it never saw action. There were two labour classes: free, represented by officers and soldiers of the army, foremen and master craftsmen; and forced, formed mostly by captured indigenous and by black slaves purchased in Africa by the Captaincy’s government. In the eighteen years of building, hundreds of workers lost their lives, including Gallucio himself, the engineer who designed and dedicated himself to it for years.
The most striking result of the construction of St Joseph of Macapá Fortress, however, was undoubtedly the creation of Macapá village and its significant development during this period. So striking that, since then, Macapá has become the main urban centre of the left mouth of the Amazon. For all this, this fortification has special value for the understanding of the formation and identity of the regional population. (MAGALHÃES, 2006, p.34).
In addition to the military reasons for the construction of the St Joseph of Macapá Fortress, there was a desire on the part of the Crown to ensure settlement in the area. According to Magalhães (2006, p. 56),
one can assume that the construction of St Joseph of Macapá Fortress, first of all, was aimed at the final establishment of an advanced core of colonization, with the deliberate intention to prevent the French advance, which had conquered Guyana. Thus, more than a military enterprise, the construction of the fortress was a colonization tool. The concrete consequences of its construction are thus: although a military endeavour, the only shots fired by the Fortress’ guns were festive.
From the colonial period to the Brazilian Empire, the fortress was occupied by platoons of the Portuguese and Imperial Guards, but with the proclamation of the Republic in November 1889, the building lost its main function and became totally abandoned. This ostracism lasted until 1946, when the Command of the Territorial Guard in the newly-created Federal Territory of Amapá was installed there. The site was preserved by the National Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN) on 22 March 1950. In the 1950s and 1960s, its facilities became housing for immigrant families who arrived in Macapá, and at another time, a public jail for prisoners under surveillance of the Territorial Guard. Today, it is one of the monuments that define the capital of Amapá.
Recife, 24 May 2014.
Translated by Peter Leamy, February 2015.
sources consulted
FORTALEZA de São José de Macapá. In: AMAPÁ. Governo do Estado. Available at: <http://www.ap.gov.br/amapa/site/paginas/historia/fortaleza.jsp>. Accessed: 8 maio 2014.
MAGALHÃES, Marcos Pereira. Arqueologia na Fortaleza São José de Macapá. Bol. Mus. Para. Emílio Goeldi, Ciências Humanas, Belém, v. 1, n. 3, p. 33-59, set-dez. 2006. Available at: <http://www.scielo.br/pdf/bgoeldi/v1n3/v1n3a02.pdf>. Accessed: 15 maio 2014.
TEIXEIRA, Paulo Roberto Rodrigues. Fortaleza São José de Macapá. DaCultura, ano VI, n. 11, p. 55-64, dez. 2006. Available at:<http://www.funceb.org.br/images/revista/8_6k4n.pdf>. Accessed: 10 maio 2014.
how to quote this text
Source: MORIM, Júlia. St Joseph of Macapá Fortress. Pesquisa Escolar Online, Joaquim Nabuco Foundation, Recife. Available at: <http://basilio.fundaj.gov.br/pesquisaescolar/>. Accessed: day month year. Ex: 6 ago. 2009.