Forte de São José (Portuguese for the Fort of Saint Joseph) is a fort located in the city of
Porto Inglês
Porto Inglês ( Portuguese for "English port", also: ''Cidade do Maio'', ''Vila do Maio'') is a city in the southern part of
Maio Island,
Cape Verde
Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...
. It was built by the Portuguese around 1743, in order to protect the town of Porto Inglês from pirate attacks.
Today, the fort is one of the tourist attractions of the town.
Forte de São José Lighthouse (Farol de Forte de São José)
A
lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Ligh ...
was built in the fort in 1887.
It is a stone tower painted white. The light is solar powered. It is 18 meters tall, sits at 4 meters above sea level and its focal height is 22 meters, its range is 17 km (9 nautical miles). Its characteristic is Fl (3) R 12s.
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See also
*List of lighthouses in Cape Verde
The following article is a list of lighthouses in Cape Verde. Cape Verde has tens of lighthouses scattered across its nine major islands. The lighthouses are administered by the Direction of Marine and Ports (''Direcção Geral de Marinha e Portos' ...
*Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire was a colonial empire that existed between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sao Jose Forte
Maio, Cape Verde
Forts in Cape Verde
Lighthouses in Cape Verde
Portuguese colonial architecture in Cape Verde