The Fort of Our Lady of the Conception, also known as the Portuguese Castle, is a red stone fortress on

Hormuz Island Hormuz Island (; fa, جزیره هرمز ''Jazireh-ye Hormoz''), also spelled Hormoz, is an Iranian island in the Persian Gulf. Located in the Strait of Hormuz, off the Iranian coast, the island is part of Hormozgan Province. It is sparsely ...

, Iran. It is one of the last surviving monuments of

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

colonial rule Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colony, colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose the ...

in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...

. Ormuz (or Hormuz) was an important maritime city and a small kingdom near the entrance to the Persian Gulf. The original site of the city was on the north shore of the Gulf, about 30 miles east of the current Bandar Abbas. Around 1300, apparently in response to attacks from the Tartars, it moved to the small island of Gerun, which can be identified as the Organa of Nearcho, about 12 miles west and 5 miles from the coast. Constructed on reddish stone on a rocky promontory at the far north of the island, the castle was originally cut off from the rest of the island by a moat, traces of which still remain. Although most of the roof caved in long ago, much of the lower part of the very substantial outer walls is intact, with the remains lying on different levels of the site.

History

The building of the castle was ordered by Portuguese commander

Afonso de Albuquerque Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa (; – 16 December 1515) was a Portuguese general, admiral, and statesman. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean ...

in 1507, when his forces seized the island for a short time, being then named "Fort of Our Lady of Victory" (''Forte de Nossa Senhora da Vitória''). Engaging his men of all ranks in the building works, Albuquerque faced a revolt and had to retreat. He came back and reconquered the island in 1515, when he completed and renamed the fort. The Persian Safavid king,

Abbas I of Persia Abbas I ( fa, ; 27 January 157119 January 1629), commonly known as Abbas the Great (), was the 5th Safavid Shah (king) of Iran, and is generally considered one of the greatest rulers of Iranian history and the Safavid dynasty. He was the third s ...

(1587–1629), wanted to end Portuguese rule in the south and eventually managed to convince the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

to allow its ships to cooperate with his land forces to seize the island from the Portuguese in 1622.

Other Portuguese castles

A number of other Portuguese castles are found in the

islands, including the castle in Qeshm. During the

Habsburg Dynasty The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

(1581–1640), the Portuguese built a fortress in

Dibba Al-Hisn Dibba Al-Hisn ( ar, دبا الحصن, ''white Dibba'') is a List of enclaves and exclaves#Subnational pene-enclaves/exclaves (inaccessible districts), pene-exclave of the emirate of Sharjah (emirate), Al-Sharjah, one of the seven United Arab Emi ...

and a wall around the city. In August 1648, the Arabs besieged

Muscat, Oman Muscat ( ar, مَسْقَط, ) is the capital and most populated city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the total population of Muscat Governorate wa ...

, and on 31 October 1648 a treaty was signed between the two opponents. The terms were as follows: the Portuguese should build the fortress of Kuriyat, Dibba Al-Hisn and

Matrah Muttrah, ( ar, مطرح) administratively a wilayah (province), is located in the Muscat Governorate of Oman. Before the discovery of oil in Oman, Muttrah was the center of commerce in Oman (Muscat). It is still a center of commerce as one of t ...

(Oman).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fort Of Our Lady Of The Conception 16th-century fortifications Castles in Iran Architecture in Iran Portuguese forts Hormuz Island Portuguese Empire Buildings and structures in Hormozgan Province National works of Iran Portuguese colonial architecture in Iran Our Lady

History

Other Portuguese castles

See also

References