The Fort of Our Lady of the Incarnation ( pt, Forte de Nossa Senhora da Encarnação) is a small

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere' ...

in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

of Carvoeiro,

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

of Lagoa, in

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 ...

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...

History

In 1670, construction began on the fortress of Carvoeiro (alternately Our Lady of the Incarnation) under the orders of the Algarvean Governor Nuno de Mendoça, Count of Vale dos Reis. It was completed during the tenure of his successor, the Count of Pontevel, Nuno da Cunha de Ataíde, in 1675. The fortress was significantly damaged during the

1755 Lisbon earthquake The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In combination with ...

, while the chapel was completely ruined: the image of the patron saint was the only salvageable artifact. The writings of Father Ignácio de Sousa Oliveira (April 1758) suggest that the chapel was "very old", indicating that its cupola was crowned by a high octagonal obelisk of stone and masonry, serving as a guide for navigation. Under Commadant António Silvestre C. Tavares Júdice the reconstruction of the fort began in 1796. An 1821 report from first-lieutenant of the Army Corps of Engineers, Gregório António, suggested that the fort continued to be in a considerable state of damage, with only one 18-calibre cannon onsite. Even this military piece was dismembered and nonoperational. This report resulted in the 1825 repairs to the fort and chapel. Though the 18-calibre munition was still at the fort in 1832, the fort was little used: in 1840, it was finally removed and both fortress and chapel were then considered in a state of ruin. After being deactivated in 1861, the site was adapted as a post of the

Guarda Fiscal , mottotranslated = For the Motherland and for the Law , formedyear = 1885 , formedmonthday = September 17 , preceding1 = Barrier guards ({{italic correction, {{lang, pt, Guardas barreiras ) , dissolved = 1993 , superseding ...

, in 1871. The chapel was restored in 1942 by Captain Josino da Costa, resulting in new roofing. In 1965, the outpost and chapel were repaired under parish priest Father António Martins de Oliveira: the name was increased, a new roof was installed, and the construction of a transversal annex. The original church bell was conserved, then transferred to the front of the main body.

Architecture

The fort is located in a semi-rural environment along the maritime coast, approximately above sea level, on a strategic clifftop. The fortress, whose remains only include the eastern wall and gate, in addition to the Hermitage of Nossa Senhora da Encarnação and historical dependencies of the Portuguese outpost of the

. The fort gate is surmounted by a stone lintel on which is written the date of construction. It is not known when the shrine was built in the interior of an entrenched polygonal-plan fortification, built to protect the populace from frequent assaults and plundering by pirates. The shrine is a depository for two images: of the patron saint (''Our Lady of the Incarnation'') dating to the 17th century; and the

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagi ...

, attributed in the 19th century.

References

;Notes ;Sources * {{Bastion forts in Portugal, state=collapsed Nossa Senhora Encarnacao Lagoa Buildings and structures in the Algarve Buildings and structures in Lagoa, Algarve Coastal fortifications in Portugal