Fortaleza de São José da

The Fortaleza de São José da Ponta Grossa is located between the beaches of Forte and Jurerê , on the coast of the state of Santa Catarina , Brazil .

It stands in a dominant position on the slope of the hill of Ponta Grossa, northwest of the island of Santa Catarina , dominating the North Bay .

Designed and built by Brigadier José da Silva Pais , the first governor of the Captaincy of Santa Catarina (1739-1745), is one of the corners of the defensive triangle of the bar of the north bay of the island in the first half of the eighteenth century, integrated by the Fortress of Santa Cruz of Anhatomirim and the Fort of Santo Antônio de Ratones . The defensive system was completed by the Fortress of Our Lady of the Conception of Araçatuba , in the bar of the South Bay . Together, they should protect the island of Santa Catarina, consolidating the occupation of the south of the Colony, and acting as strategic support base for the maintenance of the Portuguese dominion over the Colonia do Sacramento.

History 

It happened to an entrenchment in the place, that dated back to 1653 (see Entrincheiramento of the Ponta Grossa )  .

Under the invocation of St. Joseph , the construction of this fortress began in August 1740 , and was completed about four years after  .

In 1760 , by the determination of the Minister Marquis of Pombal (1750-1777), the governor of the captaincy of Rio de Janeiro , captain general Gomes Freire de Andrade (1733-1763), sent the Military Engineer lieutenant-colonel Jose Custódio de Sa and Faria , of the Royal Corps of Engineers , to make a survey of the defenses erected by Brigadier Silva Pais on the island of Santa Catarina. As in other fortifications he proceeded to minor repairs.

To complete the defense of its eastern flank was raised, from 1765 , the Battery of São Caetano da Ponta Grossa . When the Spanish invasion of 1777 , before the arrival of the attackers in the beach of Canasvieiras , this battery was abandoned by its defenders, who retired to the Fortress of San Jose , in turn also abandoned after having fired two shots ( 24 of February ). It was occupied by Spanish forces under the command of D. Ventura Caro  .

Both this fortress and the Battery that was subordinated to it were under the command of Captain Simão Rodrigues de Proença , of the Infantry Line Regiment of the Island of Santa Catarina , an officer who was experienced in the Southern Campaigns, with impeccable office faith. Following orders from the Governor of the Captaincy, Pedro Antônio da Gama Freitas (1776-1777), retired from the Plaza Fort on the third day of siege, without combat. Judged and condemned by this act by the Portuguese Crown, during the process of the Devassa opened for this purpose, died in the prison. The island of Santa Catarina remained under Spanish rule until the following year (1778), when it was returned to the Portuguese by the Treaty of Santo Ildefonso (1777) .

According to the survey of Ensign José Correia Rangel for the Portuguese Crown ( 1786 ), the Ponta Grossa armament consisted of thirty-one pieces of artillery , distributed as follows: five bronze , four of 12 gauge and one of 8 , and twenty-six pieces of iron , nine of caliber 24, two of 18, six of twelve, six of eight, one of four and two of two. These armaments came mostly from the fortifications of Bahia, some English and others prior to the seventeenth century .

According to CABRAL (1972), in the eighteenth century , its armament consisted of thirty-one pieces of artillery, thus distributed: five bronze, four of caliber 12 pounds and one of 8, and twenty-six pieces of iron, being nine of caliber 24, two of 18, six of 12, six of 8, one of 4 and two of 2.

In the context of Christie Question (1862-1865), the Inspection Report of 1863 lists him twenty-nine artillery declare it in ruins  .

In the context of the Federalist Revolution ( 1893 ), the rebel squad there assembled two raked cannons, installing an Atalaia there. Abandoned, at the end of the nineteenth century regional newspapers already denounced the improper appropriation of stones, bricks and other materials of the fortress for the construction of houses by the local population, generating a request for formal measures from the State Government to the Ministry of War ( 1898 ) .

Tombada by the old Service of the Historical and Artistic Patrimony National ( 1938 ), the fortress was in ruins. Since 1976 , at the initiative of the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (IPHAN), the Fortress of São José da Ponta Grossa hasbegun to undergo interventions to clean the vegetation and consolidate the ruins with a view to restoration works. In 1977 , emergency consolidation works were carried out on some stretches of walls , in the Casa do Comandante , on the Portada , as well as the partial restoration of the Chapel .

In 1987 , to be registered as a site archaeological protected by federal law, were carried out the first works of archaeological prospection by technicians of IPHAN / Pro-Memory Foundation , which had sequence in 1989 - 1990 within the "Fortresses Project of Santa Catarina Island , 250 years in Brazilian History "with the team of the University Museum of the Federal University of Santa Catarina . Finally in 1991 - 1992thanks to an agreement between UFSC and the Ministry of the Army, under the "Fortresses Project of the Island of Santa Catarina - 250 years in Brazilian History", the former assumed the tasks of administration and conservation, and with funds from the Banco do Brasil Foundation , the Fortress of São José had the rest of its buildings restored, being able to be appreciated the walls, the Portico, the Chapel, and the Barracks of the Troop. The initiative was promoted by IPHAN and UFSC, which since 1992 manages the fortification.

The fortress is open daily to public visitation. You arrive at the place, by land, through Highway SC-401, or by sea, disembarking at the Jurerê beach warehouse .

Features 

The fortress features an organic polygonal shape plan (adapted to the terrain in which it is inscribed), in three distinct planes, protected at the rear by the slope of the hill, with batteries facing the sea.

The buildings are distributed by three different terraces in different heights, interconnected by ramps and surrounded by thick walls in stone and lime masonry . The access gate lost the original drawbridge and the pediment, and the access corridor, the vaulted brick masonry . Flanking the latter, the room dungeon , with door and window once barred , and the Guard House , naturally lit by two windows shaped loopholes. The access corridor also shows the cracks in the wall, through which the blade that closes the access in the event of an attack, leading to the lower embankment, where the first order of Batteries is distributed. Next to them are the vestiges of the old Casa da Palamenta , with brick masonry floor, where light weapons and the paraphernalia needed for the maintenance and operation of the artillery pieces were kept. Due to the lack of knowledge of the structure of the walls and their cover, it has not been restored. To complete the assembly two sentry round on their tops at opposite corners of the wall. The stonework of the Portico, of the buildings, and the base of some gunboats is carved in lioz stone .

In the intermediate embankment, the second order of batteries is located and the Barracks of the Tropa , with brick masonry floor , with the attached Kitchen . Restored, it is today occupied by the lace-makers of bobbin , who work there and market their art.

On the upper terrace there is the House of the Commander , an imposing two-story townhouse, twinned with the Powderhound, also tiled with two floors. In the House of the Commander was signed the capitulation before the Spaniards in 1777 . With brick masonry, its restoration was only possible thanks to the resources of the Banco do Brasil Foundation in 1992 . Today, this building houses the exhibition " O Cotidiano da Fortaleza de São José da Ponta Grossa - Aspectos da Alimentação ". In the second floor of the Pothole of the Gunpowder works a Video Roomexhibiting material on the fortresses of Santa Catarina. Still on the third embankment is the Chapel of St. Joseph . Of sober lines, this building was first restored by the IPHAN in the set, still in 1977 , since it is still used by the community. Rectangular in shape, with a single nave separated from the main chapel by a cross arch , its floor is also brick masonry, noting the absence of a bell tower, which is characteristic of the eighteenth century catarineneses chapels, designed by military architects .

The drinking water supply of the garrison was made at the source (with cistern ), external building to the walls of the fortress.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortaleza_de_São_José_da_Ponta_Grossa