Forte de Sacavém
The Forte de Sacavém (officially Reduto de Monte Cintra ) is a fortress in the Portuguese city of Sacavém , not far from Lisbon .
location
The Forte de Sacavém is located on the right bank of the Rio Trancão , about 800 meters from the confluence with the Tagus . It is located on a hill about 35 meters high in a strategic position that allows this fortress to control the entire area. It is surrounded by a ditch and partially buried in the ground, making it difficult to see especially from a lower position. The fortress could accommodate light infantry on its rear and artillery on the flanks.
The Forte de Sacavém used to be surrounded by old factories, such as the large Sacavém ceramics factory, a few cooperage shops and rice peeling factories. Today the fortress is surrounded by apartment blocks and the city's ceramic museum. The railway line between Lisbon and Porto passes east of the fortress , with the Sacavém train station right in front of the entrance to the fortress. In the immediate vicinity is the Parque das Nações , which was part of the 1998 World Exhibition in Lisbon.
history
Although the Sacavém region has been inhabited for many centuries, today's Forte de Sacavém was only planned and built in the second half of the 19th century. It was part of a military road that ran from Algés to the Sacavém River, and passed through Monsanto , Benfica , Lumiar , Ameixoeira , Odivelas , Charneca , Camarate , Olivais , Chelas and Sacavém . The Forte de Sacavém and its military installations were thus part of the last line of defense before Lisbon.
The decision to build the Forte de Sacavém and the other fortresses that should protect the city of Lisbon goes back to the Minister of War in the government of the Duke of Loulé , Marquês de Sá da Bandeira (1857–1863). The actual planning did not begin until 1872, and the construction work in August of the following year, after the affected lands had been bought from the Count of Ouguela . The drafts for the fortress were made by the engineer Sanches de Castro, the construction work was supervised by Eugénio de Azevedo.
In the first half of the 20th century, the fortress was subjected to minor alterations and repairs. During the great strikes in 1912, Duarte Leite's government ordered the strike leaders to be imprisoned in some of the fortresses around Lisbon, including the Forte de Sacavém.
In 1935, the 1st Heavy Artillery Regiment of Lisbon (RAP 1) was quartered in Forte de Sacavém, which until then had been located in the Sacavém Convent , which was located exactly opposite the fortress and also served as an ammunition depot and air defense base.
In 1939, the Portuguese military realized that fortresses were out of date for the defense of Lisbon. Kamel was abandoned by the military as a barracks and was now used as an ammunition store. Some renovations were made, for example one floor was added.
In 1949 the wooden drawbridge was demolished and a stone bridge was built that connects the fortress with its wall.
In 1965, the government formally declared that the fortress was no longer of military value and from then on it was still used as an ammunition depot.
In 1998, the year Sacavém was raised to the city, the Forte de Sacavém was restored and preserved and assigned to the Ministry of Equipment ( Ministério do Equipamento ), where the Department of Spatial Planning and Management decided to keep the Directorate's archives and other inventory to accommodate buildings and monuments of Portugal in the fortress. This was the beginning of the multimedia register at Forte de Sacavém, a project in which text and image documents as well as 3D models are preserved.
In recent years, both legal and illegal construction work on the slopes of the hill on which the fortress is located has resulted in the structural stability of the fortress being compromised. For example, the north side of the hill was completely cut down to make room for new residential buildings with a view of the river.
Coordinates: 38 ° 47 '45 " N , 9 ° 6' 5.4" W.