It is located on Engenheiro Abel Ferin Coutinho street, parish of São José, Ponta Delgada Island, Azores, Portugal
In the Azores there are no castles, but rather forts and fortresses since the castles date back to the medieval period, before the islands were discovered.
In the city of Ponta Delgada there were several forts: São Pedro, Açadogue and São Cristóvão, which disappeared with the renovation of the seafront, leaving the military fort of São Brás.
The Fort began construction after 1560 and before 1567 with an initial design by military engineer Isidoro de Almeida and renovated in 1569 by Italian engineer Tommaso Benedetto with a bastioned layout of the Italian school.
This Fort has a quadrangular plan made up of four unequal polygonal bastions arranged at the angles, and straight curtains with an outer embankment cliff topped with a cordon and a parapet of merlons and embrasures.
The Fort is a construction with a polygonal base designed by the Italian Tommaso Benedetto, and consisting of four bastions at the angles prepared to receive artillery pieces and low wall curtains of great thickness.
In the 18th century, the structure of the fort was slightly altered with its expansion and construction of three casemate batteries, two polygonal and one curved.
In the 19th century, with the opening of a new door facing the earth with a straight lintel topped with a royal coat of arms and military panoplies, and the construction of a barracks on the northwest curtain, absorbing it.
Inside there is a regular quadrangular parade ground, framed by rectangular barracks, with access to the bastions via a ramp and stairs.
According to Pedro Dias, the São Brás fort constitutes the first fully bulwarked fortification built in the Portuguese overseas space that has survived to this day.
The Fort is considered the most important fort of the 16th century, and the most powerful fortification on the island of São Miguel, rising in a dominant position over the city of Ponta Delgada, defending its port and anchorage.
During the First World War, the moat and covered path were razed and, in the second, the embrasures on the parapet or casemates were closed to install heavy machine gun positions, a situation that was restored in more recent restorations and the opening of communication tunnels.
The old chapel and cistern inside, and the ravelin on the curtain were demolished during the various works and arrangement of the fort's surroundings.
Over the centuries this Fort has been altered with new additions and transformations and it is there that the Military Museum of the Azores is located.
In the city of Ponta Delgada there were several forts: São Pedro, Açadogue and São Cristóvão, which disappeared with the renovation of the seafront, leaving the military fort of São Brás.
The Fort began construction after 1560 and before 1567 with an initial design by military engineer Isidoro de Almeida and renovated in 1569 by Italian engineer Tommaso Benedetto with a bastioned layout of the Italian school.
This Fort has a quadrangular plan made up of four unequal polygonal bastions arranged at the angles, and straight curtains with an outer embankment cliff topped with a cordon and a parapet of merlons and embrasures.
The Fort is a construction with a polygonal base designed by the Italian Tommaso Benedetto, and consisting of four bastions at the angles prepared to receive artillery pieces and low wall curtains of great thickness.
In the 18th century, the structure of the fort was slightly altered with its expansion and construction of three casemate batteries, two polygonal and one curved.
In the 19th century, with the opening of a new door facing the earth with a straight lintel topped with a royal coat of arms and military panoplies, and the construction of a barracks on the northwest curtain, absorbing it.
Inside there is a regular quadrangular parade ground, framed by rectangular barracks, with access to the bastions via a ramp and stairs.
According to Pedro Dias, the São Brás fort constitutes the first fully bulwarked fortification built in the Portuguese overseas space that has survived to this day.
The Fort is considered the most important fort of the 16th century, and the most powerful fortification on the island of São Miguel, rising in a dominant position over the city of Ponta Delgada, defending its port and anchorage.
During the First World War, the moat and covered path were razed and, in the second, the embrasures on the parapet or casemates were closed to install heavy machine gun positions, a situation that was restored in more recent restorations and the opening of communication tunnels.
The old chapel and cistern inside, and the ravelin on the curtain were demolished during the various works and arrangement of the fort's surroundings.
Over the centuries this Fort has been altered with new additions and transformations and it is there that the Military Museum of the Azores is located.
