São Filipe da Praça (fort)
Original title: Forte de S. Felipe da Praça
A former fort in Funchal built in 1628 by the bishop-governor D. Jerónimo Fernando between the mouths of the João Gomes and Santa Luzia streams; it was later sold and replaced by a warehouse.
The fort was built by order of the bishop-governor Dom Jerónimo Fernando in 1628, between the mouths of the Ribeira de João Gomes (‘João Gomes’s stream’) and the Santa Luzia (‘St Lucy’), south of the pillory (pelourinho, stone column symbolising municipal jurisdiction), on the spot where there once stood a great til (Ocotea foetens, Madeiran laurel) whose timber was used in a Castilian war carrack. In 1754 its master gunner was Captain Roque João Acciaioly. Sold by the Ministry of War, it made way for a large warehouse.