Pessegueiro Island ( pt, Ilha do Pessegueiro, links=no), literally ''island of the Peachtree'', is a small island/islet located along the southwest coast of the civil parish of
Porto Covo
Porto Covo is one of the two civil parishes in the municipality of Sines, located along the western Alentejo coast of Portugal, about south of Lisbon. The population in 2011 was 1,038,[Sines
Sines () is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The municipality, divided into two parishes, has around 14,214 inhabitants (2021) in an area of . Sines holds an important oil refinery and several petrochemical industries. It is also a popular ...]
. The island and the adjacent coast are part of
Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast Natural Park
Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast Natural Park (PNSACV) is a natural park located in southwest Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on t ...
, but Pessegueiro island is also notable for the 15th-16th century fort located at its centre and Roman ruins along the coast.
History
![Porto Covo April 2010-2a](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Porto_Covo_April_2010-2a.jpg)
Historically, the island was first occupied by the
Carthaginians
The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...
before the
Second Punic War
The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...
(218-202 BCE).
At the time of the
Roman conquest of Hispania, the island hosted a small
fish processing
The term fish processing refers to the processes associated with fish and fish products between the time fish are caught or harvested, and the time the final product is delivered to the customer. Although the term refers specifically to fish, in ...
centre, as determined by archaeological excavations which discovered the remains of salt tanks along the southern coast.
To help defend against
privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
s, the natural anchorage was extended at the time of the
Iberian Union
pt, União Ibérica
, conventional_long_name =Iberian Union
, common_name =
, year_start = 1580
, date_start = 25 August
, life_span = 1580–1640
, event_start = War of the Portuguese Succession
, event_end = Portuguese Restoration War
, ...
with an artificial rock barrier connecting the island of Pessegueiro to the coastline. In 1590, construction began on the
Fort of Pessegueiro Island
Pessegueiro Island ( pt, Ilha do Pessegueiro, links=no), literally ''island of the Peachtree'', is a small island/islet located along the southwest coast of the civil parish of Porto Covo in the municipality of Sines. The island and the adjacent ...
, which came to occupy a dominant position on the island, with the purpose of providing military support to a
fort
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'' ...
on the mainland. Work on the project was halted in 1598 in order to construct the
Fort of Vila Nova de Milfontes.
The legend of Our Lady of Queimada
According to tradition, in the middle of the 18th century,
Barbary pirates
The Barbary pirates, or Barbary corsairs or Ottoman corsairs, were Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Salé, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli. This area was known i ...
arriving on the island from
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
and
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
encountered a Christian
hermit
A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions.
Description
In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...
who was maintaining a
chapel
A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...
dedicated to the
Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...
. The pirates killed the monk, looted the chapel and threw her statue into the flames.
Later the inhabitants of Porto Covo buried the Christian hermit, but could not, at first, find the sacred image. Deciding to search the entire island, they finally found the statue within a burned bush but unharmed by the fire: the image became known as the ''Queimada'' (''Burnt Virgin''). The statue was removed to the mainland, one kilometre from the island, where a new chapel was built, known as the ''Chapel of the Burned Virgin'' ( pt, Capela de Nossa Senhora da Queimada, links=no), becoming a destination for pilgrimages.
Geography
Located from the coast by a channel, it is situated south of the parish seat of Porto Covo, southwest of a small inlet used by fishing boats.
Part of the
Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast Natural Park
Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast Natural Park (PNSACV) is a natural park located in southwest Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on t ...
it is migratory stop and hatchery for many marine bird species, some on the verge of extinction, including
seagulls
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, ...
,
cormorant
Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven ge ...
s and
carrion crow
The carrion crow (''Corvus corone'') is a passerine bird of the family Corvidae and the genus ''Corvus'' which is native to western Europe and the eastern Palearctic.
Taxonomy and systematics
The carrion crow was one of the many species origi ...
s.
Fort of Pessegueiro Island
The Fort of Pessegueiro Island ( pt, Forte da ilha do Pessegueiro) is a fort situated on the island of Pessegueiro, off the coast of the civil parish of
Porto Covo
Porto Covo is one of the two civil parishes in the municipality of Sines, located along the western Alentejo coast of Portugal, about south of Lisbon. The population in 2011 was 1,038,[Sines
Sines () is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The municipality, divided into two parishes, has around 14,214 inhabitants (2021) in an area of . Sines holds an important oil refinery and several petrochemical industries. It is also a popular ...]
, in the southern
Alentejo
Alentejo ( , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond () the Tagus river" (''Tejo'').
Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo and Baixo Alent ...
of
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
.
There are still visible on the island of Pessegueiro enormous blocks cut from the rocks of the island, and sunk in the waters around it.
Similarly, there have been discovered various tanks for salting fish, that were used during the early Roman occupation of the region. These tanks were used in the salting and processing of fish, which was traded and transported to Rome.
[
In 1588, Terzi began the planning for a fort on the island, as part of a project to construct an artificial port that would link the island to the coast (then approved by cardinal Alberto, the vice-King).] Alexandre Massay substituted Terzi in 1590, beginning the construction of the port, while work on the artificial port continued.[ The construction was interrupted in 1598, when Massay was transferred to Vila Nova de Milfontes, to begin work on the construction of a fort to defend the inlet to the River Mira.][
Construction began once again in 1603, but were interrupted shortly later.][ It is unclear, but construction on the island was likely completed between 1661 and 1690, although the fort and artificial port remained incomplete.][
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 ...
was responsible for damage to the chapel, and the batteries over the casemate
A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which artillery, guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
When referring to Ancient history, antiquity, th ...
s.[
]
Architecture
Of the fort that remains on the island, the existing structure exists in ruins.[ It is a star-shaped fort, consisting of four symmetrical, triangular bulwarks and with casemates in the central part of the fortification. On the opposite end of the main entrance is a hermitage, dedicated to Santo Alberto ( pt, Ermida de Santo Alberto).][
The fort was part of group that included an artificial port, defended by a breakwater also connected the island to the rocky outcroppings to the north of the island: the Penedo do Cavalo.][
]
References
;Notes
Sources
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{{authority control
Uninhabited islands of Portugal
Former populated places in Portugal
Sines