The Fortress of São Francisco do Penedo () is located in the port city of

Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

History

In the 17th century, by order of

Philip II of Portugal Philip III (; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain and King of Portugal, Portugal (where he is known as Philip II of Portugal) during the Iberian Union. His reign lasted from 1598 until his death in 1621. He held dominion over the S ...

, a Commission was created to study how the strategic port city of

could be fortified.

One of the expected buildings to protect the city of
Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...
, was the Fortress of Penedo. So, the Fortress would come to guarantee the safety of European occupation, giving resistance to the network of the traffic of the slaves, who were sent to America, from the harbour of Luanda. The Fortress of Penedo was, since its first building, one of the keys of the Luanda harbour protection. And secretly it cantoned the slaves and assured their sending to the lands of "New World" (America). The new fortress was built between 1765 and 1766, and was also used as a prison of the Portuguese Political Police. This Fortress is badly preserved due to its age and its activity as a Prison.

World Heritage Status

This site was added to the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

Tentative List on November 22, 1996, in the Cultural category.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortress of Sao Francisco do Penedo Buildings and structures in Luanda Sao Francisco World Heritage Tentative List