Pico (fortress)
Original title: Pico (Fortaleza do)
The former fortification on the Pico do Castelo in Porto Santo, built under Philippine rule after the Moorish raid of 1617 as a refuge from pirates rather than a true stronghold.
The fortress of the Pico (‘peak’), on the island of Porto Santo (‘holy harbour’), was’, says Dr Azevedo in his notes to ‘Longing for the Homeland’ (Saudades da Terra), ‘more a refuge than a stronghold’. Gaspar Frutuoso, writing in 1590 about the Pico do Castelo, does not say that there was a castle on it, but that it was given this name because it was in itself ‘strong and defensible.’ The fortifications that once stood there, now destroyed, were raised during Philippine rule ‘after the terrible slaughter and pillage’, says Mr A. A. Sarmento, ‘carried out by the Moors in 1617’.
Some thirty-odd years ago there were still, on the top of the peak, remains of the old fortifications and a cistern intended to supply water to those who took refuge there during pirate raids. (1921).
The fortress of the Pico do Castelo had a constable in the time of Philip II, and in 1805 the governor Manuel Inácio de Avelar Brotero had the roof tiles that still covered the buildings brought down, to reuse them in repairing the barracks of the town (vila) and his own residence.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 03-
Gaspar Frutuoso described the Pico do Castelo on Porto Santo as naturally defensible.
-
North African corsairs sacked Porto Santo, killing or carrying off most of the population, burning the parish church and destroying the council and parish archives; the raid prompted fortification of Pico do Castelo.
-
Governor Avelar Brotero had the Pico fortress's roof tiles removed to repair the town barracks and his residence.
Place
Places mentioned · 03- Fortress of the Pico · Subject
Funchal · Porto Santo
Former fortification on the Pico do Castelo in Porto Santo, built under Philippine rule after the Moorish raid of 1617. It served as a refuge from pirates rather than as a true stronghold.
- Pico do Castelo
Porto Santo. The peak on which the fortress stood.
The best-known peak of Porto Santo, given as 440 or 441 m high, named after the ruins of an old fort on its crest. The steep peak served as the islanders' refuge from pirate raids and was fortified in the early 18th century. Its slopes, with trachyte outcrops, were reforested, and a channel was designed to capture their storm runoff.
- Porto Santo
Island where the fortress was located.
An island of the archipelago, settled alongside Madeira and forming one of the three captaincies. It has always constituted a single parish, dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Piedade, whose church was repeatedly sacked. The Elucidário records the Moorish pirate raid of 1617, its own Misericórdia and a rainwater channel built on this drought-prone island.
People
People mentioned · 05- Alberto Artur Sarmentob. 1878
Author quoted on the Moorish massacre and plunder of Porto Santo in 1617.
- Álvaro Rodrigues de Azevedo1825–1898
Annotator of the Saudades da Terra, quoted as calling the Pico fortress more a refuge than a stronghold.
- Gaspar Frutuoso1522–1591
Azorean chronicler who described the Pico do Castelo in 1590 as naturally strong and defensible.
-
Governor of Porto Santo who in 1805 had the fortress's roof tiles removed to repair the town barracks and his residence.
-
King of Portugal under whose reign the fortress had a constable.