The Fort of Cacheu is located near the mouth of the

Cacheu River The Cacheu is a river of Guinea-Bissau also known as the Farim along its upper course. Its total length is about 257 km. One of its major tributaries is the Canjambari River. Course Its headwaters are near the northern border of the country, ...

, in the city of

Cacheu Cacheu is a town in northwestern Guinea-Bissau, lying on the Cacheu River. Its population was estimated to be 9,849 . History and landmarks The town of Cacheu is situated in territory of the Papel people. The name is of Bainuk origin: "i.e. ''C ...

, Cacheu region, in the Northwest of

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

History

The establishment of Cacheu dates back to a first fort built in 1588 by Manuel Lopes Cardoso, with the function of defending the

feitoria Factory was the common name during the medieval and early modern eras for an entrepôt – which was essentially an early form of free-trade zone or transshipment point. At a factory, local inhabitants could interact with foreign merchants, o ...

founded in the region, erected with the permission of the local king, and which had been attacked by the English in 1567. Pedro Dias (2008). ''Arte de Portugal no Mundo / África Ocidental.'' 4. .l. Público - Comunicação Social, SA. p. 30. ISBN 978-989-619-142-9 In addition to ensuring the Portuguese military presence, it provided important support for the trade in manufactured fabrics, ivory and slaves. The current fort was started in 1641 by the captain-major Gonçalo Gambôa de Ayalla do defend the place from Spanish ships.Manuel Teixeira
''Cacheu'' in hpip.org.
/ref> To encourage trade, the

Company of Cacheu and Rivers and Commerce of Guinea The Company of Cacheu and Rivers and Commerce of Guinea (Portuguese: Companhia de Cacheu, rios e comércio da Guiné) was a Portuguese colonial company. It succeeded the Guinea Coast Company and was intended to promote trade in manufactured fabr ...

was founded on 1675. On May 19, 1676, had its privileges confirmed by the Crown, namely: the right to trade on the coast of Guinea and in the archipelago of Cape Verde, as well as slaves for the Metropolis, the overseas domains and Spanish America. It ceased its activities in 1682. It was replaced by the

Cacheu and Cape Verde Company The Cacheu and Cape Verde Company (Portuguese: ''Companhia de Cacheu e Cabo Verde'') was a chartered company created by Portugal which operated the colonies of Cacheu and Cape Verde in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. It was created as p ...

in 1690, which relocated its activities to

Bissau Bissau () is the capital, and largest city of Guinea-Bissau. Bissau had a population of 492,004. Bissau is located on the Geba River estuary, off the Atlantic Ocean, and is Guinea-Bissau's largest city, major port, and its administrative and m ...

. The town of Cacheu developed next to the fort, composed of two neighborhoods: ''Vila Fria'' closer to the river where the Portuguese resided, composed of two streets ''Rua Direita'' and ''Rua de Santo António'', and the ''Vila Quente'', where the native Guineans lived, further from the river and composed of thatched adobe houses. Administratively, the region was dependent on Cape Verde until the creation of the province of Portuguese Guinea, in 1879. The fort is illustrated on a Portuguese postage stamp from 1946, from the series commemorating the "5th Centenary of the Discovery of Guinea", with a face value of 30 escudos. The restoration work of the former Portuguese fort was carried out from January to March 2004, with resources of around one hundred thousand Euros, made available by the Union of Capital Cities of Portuguese Official Language (UCCLA). In order to ensure its use as a leisure and cultural area, in addition to promoting tourism, the redevelopment of its interior was promoted, where various leisure facilities were installed and the statues of Portuguese navigators Gonçalves Zarco and Nuno Tristão, the first Europeans to reach the coasts of Guinea in the 15th century. In the old service buildings, a library and social rooms were installed.

Features

The fort, of small dimensions, has a plan in the shape of a rectangle, 26 meters long by 24 meters wide, with small bulwarks at the edges. The walls, in mortared stone, are about four meters high and one meter thick. It was equipped with sixteen pieces. The gate-of-arms, over five feet wide, is its only access.

References

{{Forts and fortresses of the Portuguese empire , state=collapsed Historic sites in Guinea-Bissau Forts in Guinea-Bissau Buildings and structures in Bissau Portuguese forts

History

Features

See also

References