The Fort of the Açougue (), ruins of a 16th-century fortification located in the

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

Angra do Heroísmo Angra do Heroísmo (), or simply Angra, is a city and municipality on Terceira Island, Portugal, and one of the three capital cities of the Azores. Founded in 1478, Angra was historically the most important city in the Azores, as seat of the Roma ...

, along the southern coast of

Terceira Terceira () is a volcanic island in the Azores archipelago, about a third of the way across the North Atlantic Ocean at a similar latitude to Portugal's capital Lisbon, with the island group forming an insular part of Portugal. It is one of the ...

, Portuguese archipelago of the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

History

Its construction remotes from the

Portuguese succession crisis of 1580 The Portuguese succession crisis of 1580 () emerged as a result of the disappearance of young King Sebastian I of Portugal in the Battle of Alcácer Quibir in 1578 and the death without issue of his successor and great-uncle Henry I in 1580. A ...

, sometime between 1579 and 1581, when attacks by pirates in the mid-Atlantic threatened the safety and security of New World treasure ships. The Corregedor of the Azores, Ciprião de Figueiredo e Vasconcelos initiated the construction of several forts that ringed the coasts of Terceira, using the plans of Italian military engineer Tommaso Benedetto as its basis. The chronicler

Gaspar Frutuoso Gaspar Frutuoso ( 1522 – 1591) was a Portuguese priest, historian and humanist from the island of São Miguel, in the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. His major contribution to Portuguese history was his detailed descriptions of the histo ...

referred to this fortification in the explanations in his ''Saudades da Terra'', sometime in the 16th century: :"''At the fort called Açougue:

here are Here may refer to: Music * ''Here'' (Adrian Belew album), 1994 * ''Here'' (Alicia Keys album), 2016 * ''Here'' (Cal Tjader album), 1979 * ''Here'' (Edward Sharpe album), 2012 * ''Here'' (Idina Menzel album), 2004 * ''Here'' (Merzbow album), ...

Two pieces of strained iron, of 10 quintais and 30 arráteis; another piece of iron of 9 quintais [] and 20 arráteis []; two of bronze of 140 arráteis [], with crowns and crescent moons; 115 projectile of lead with lead bullets pear the grinders, ten...projectiles, twelve alcanzias [hand-thrown grenades].''"Gaspar Frutuoso (Saudades da Terra), p.89

Architecture

By the end of the 20th century there little more than ruins of this fortification, nor the remains of its foundations.

References

;Notes ;Sources * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fort of the Acougue Buildings and structures in Angra do Heroísmo, Fort Acougue Acougue