Walls and batteries
On the sea.
AnibalBezerra — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Leonardo Salvato — CC BY-SA 4.0 · DlauriniJr — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Elvis Boaventura — CC BY 3.0 · Hudson C. S. de Souza — CC BY-SA 3.0
The Morro de São Paulo fortress is not a single fort but a set of batteries and walls on the north-western tip of Tinharé island, in Cairu municipality south of Salvador. In the days of sail it held a strategic position on the «false bar» into the Bay of All Saints, the approach to Salvador, Brazil's colonial capital. The first fortifications went up between September and November 1631 on the orders of Governor-General Diogo Luiz de Oliveira, during the union of the Spanish and Portuguese crowns, and major works began in 1728 and lasted more than five years. At the top of the hill, where the lighthouse stands today, were the first chapel, the powder store and a stretch of wall. The national heritage body listed it in 1938, after years as an unused ruin, and its restoration was handed over on 20 January 2018. It is usually explored on the way down from the lighthouse on the hilltop above the village.
On the sea.
On the hill.
Guarding the bay.
North-western tip of Tinharé island, Morro de São Paulo, Cairu
The first works date from 1631, major building began in 1728, and it was restored and reopened in 2018.
