The courtyard
Yellow walls.
Ji-Elle — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ji-Elle — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ji-Elle — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ji-Elle — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ji-Elle — CC BY-SA 4.0
The São Sebastião Fort Museum is the national museum of São Tomé and Príncipe, housed in a 16th-century Portuguese fortress in the capital, São Tomé. It stands at the south-east end of Ana Chaves Bay, north-east of the city centre. It holds religious art and colonial-era objects and looks straight out over the sea. The Portuguese built the fort in 1566 to protect the port and city from pirate attacks. A lighthouse was added in 1866 and rebuilt in 1928. The fort was restored in the late 1950s and became the national museum. Its courtyard holds old Portuguese stone coats of arms and carved reliefs. You see a building with pale yellow walls and red tiled roofs around a paved inner courtyard, with green shutters and a stone stair rising to the ramparts. By the entrance is a small chapel with a white arch. From the ramparts the view takes in the bay, the city and the boats. It is about 1.6 km from central São Tomé in a straight line, and the cathedral about 1 km. An hour is about enough. Ask about photo rules in the galleries.
Yellow walls.
Portuguese carvings.
From the ramparts.
South-east end of Ana Chaves Bay, São Tomé
In 1566, to protect the port from pirates.
Religious art and colonial-era objects.
