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GPS 38.69761253357945, -9.282684233990768

The Fort of Nossa Senhora de Porto Salvo, also referred to as Fort Giribita and Fort Ponta do Guincho, is located on the right bank of the Tagus Estuary, in the village of Oeiras, on a rocky point. It belongs to the parish of Oeiras and S. Julião da Barra, Paço da Arcos and Caxias, on the Lisbon Coast.

History

Background

It dates back to the so-called Battery of Guincho, later called Battery of Our Lady of Porto Salvo.

The Restoration War to the 18th century

In the context of the War of Restoration of Portuguese independence, it was rebuilt on the initiative of D. António Luís de Menezes (1596-1675), 3rd Count of Cantanhede, with its works completed in 1649, according to the epigraphic inscription on the Arms Gate , which reads:

"REINANDO EL REI OUSSO SNOR / DOM IOAO 4 THIS WORK WAS MADE / BY MANDATORY OF THE COUNT D CAN / TANHEDE DOS SEVS CONSOS DO ESTA / DO E GVERRA VEEDOR DE SVA / FZDA IN THE YEAR OF / 1649" It was set up with four pieces. At the end of the 17th century, its garrison was under the command of Corporal Inácio Gomes (1695).

In the 18th century, reports show that it was equipped with two pieces of caliber 24, keeping five more incapable of service (1735). Still commanded by Corporal Inácio Gomes, he was promoted to Infantry Captain (1740), passing command of the fort to Corporal Estevão José de Brito (1741). From 1763, command passed to the sergeant-major of the Royal Navy Regiment, José António de Andrade, when he was armed with seven pieces of 18-gauge iron. Estevão José de Brito resumed command from 1765. At the end of the century, command was handed over to the lieutenant of the Évora Cavalry Regiment, João Pinto Ribeiro de Vasconcelos e Sousa (1798).

From the 19th century to our days

At the beginning of the 19th century, Lieutenant João Francisco da Cruz Alagoa was in command (1804), and his artillery was reduced to just two pieces (1824). In the context of the Liberal Wars, it was manned by twenty-two artillerymen, in addition to a corporal, a junior officer and a non-commissioned officer in command of twenty-two infantry soldiers. Its artillery now amounted to seven pieces (1832).

Under the command of the retired lieutenant D. José António Lócio (1873), restoration work began on its premises, in the amount of 273$000 reis (1874). From 1877 onwards, its premises were handed over to the Defense Commission of Lisbon and its Port, which used them as a deposit of torpedo material, a function it still carried out in the first year of the Republic, when it underwent general improvement works (1911).

At the time of the Second World War, with Portugal remaining neutral in the conflict, it was handed over to the Ministry of Finance, which ceded it to the Autonomous Board of Roads, to be restored as part of the landscaping of the seafront on the occasion of the opening of Av. Marginal (1942). The following year, the Portuguese Legion requested that the property be transferred to it for the installation of a pavilion for sailing regattas.

At the outbreak of the Carnation Revolution (1974), the fort's facilities were occupied and, in the following year, transferred to the Directorate of Naval Infrastructure of the Portuguese Navy.

Characteristics

It is a small maritime fort, in the Baroque style, designed to reinforce the defense of the mouth of the Tagus river, supporting the defense provided by the Fort of São Julião da Barra. It features an organic irregular pentagonal plan (adapted to the terrain), at different levels.

The plaster structure features corners highlighted in stone masonry. At the center of the north wall opens the Monumental Gate in straight lintel, also with a stonework frame, surmounted by an epigraphic stone plaque where the date of foundation (1649) and the royal coat of arms are inscribed. Two circular watchtowers topped by domes are articulated by a wall.

On the embankment, there is a service building with four compartments, each served by a chest window with a straight lintel, and six embrasures are opened in the walls on the sea side.

Gallery