The Brazilian Fortresses Ensemble comprises 19 locations spread across Brazil. It seems that Brazil is trying to copy the Mexican and Belgian federal approach to give every federal state its own WHS: the fortresses are located in 10 different states. Surely these fortresses can’t be all equally important, so I wonder what ICOMOS will make of this series when it’s up for discussion in 2023.

I ‘visited’ six of them in December 2022, in Recife and in Salvador.

The two forts in Recife are generally open to visitors as they are in use as museums, but I had the misfortune to have planned a visit on the same day as the Brazilian national football team had to play at the World Cup at noon Brazilian time. And I had learned already from earlier matches that Brazilian society then fully shuts down. That meant that I arrived too early for Sao Tiago and that Batista do Brum didn’t open up at all that day. The Dutch West India Company originally constructed both forts, so from a Dutch colonial history perspective, I had especially looked forward to seeing them.

Sao Tiago is now the Recife City Museum, a very recognizable fortress with bastions. It is nicknamed the Five Tips Fort, but it changed shape later from 5 to 4 corners. It was here in 1654 that the Dutch surrendered to the Portuguese-Brazilians after attempting to take over the colony.

Fort De Bruyn (Batista do Brum) lies about 2.5km …

For our visit to this Tentative site, we decided to visit São João Fortress at the entrance to Guanabara Bay in the heart of Rio de Janeiro. Not that we had much choice in the matter, since most of the locations are further north, and we weren't heading that direction on this trip! The site is still an active military installation, so tours are available via pre-booked appointment only.

First off, it's one of the most beautiful fortresses I've ever visited. Not particularly for the quality of the stonework, the decorations, or anything like that, but simply for the location. It's essentially underneath Mt Sugarloaf (Pao de Azucar), in the rich and trendy Urca neighbourhood, and jutting out into the mouth of Guanabara Bay. It's such a magnificent location, and every moment there felt like a treat.

The tour itself visited a couple of more modern sections of the base (though calling it a military base is a slight misnomer, it's really more of a fitness school for cadets), before heading through a forested area to the historic section of the fort. There's several areas of casemates, bunkers and batteries to explore, though you aren't really allowed to go wandering off on your own. One bunker has a good museum explaining the various phases of history for the fort, and how it was expanded and adapted multiple times to ward off various threats - French settlers, Dutch pirates, English invaders, and so on. There's also good views of …

In August 2018, I visited Macapá, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amapá, the only pair not covered by Lonely Planet, so I wasn’t surprised that there weren’t any other tourists. One of the benefits of a 40-minute flight that departed from Belem at 4:10 am was that I arrived early enough on the northern bank of the Amazon to watch the sunrise over the world’s largest river. Macapá’s only noteworthy site is São José Fortress, built in 1764 by the Portuguese to guard the mouth of the Amazon. The fort basically sits on the equator and is the northernmost fort in the tentative site ensemble. 

I visited Salvador in July 2018, probably the best place to check this tentative site as 5 of the nominated forts are in that city: Santo Antônio da Barra Fort, Santa Maria Fort, São Diogo Fort, São Marcelo Fort and Nossa Senhora de Monte Serrat Fort. All forts are managed by the army, but is possible to visit all of them easily, except for the São Marcelo Fort, currently closed after a restoration (as far as I know, they still don't have a decision about the new use of the building). None of the forts belong to the WHS Historic centre of Salvador. I did the best I could to take a look at the 5 forts, and here's my impressions about them:

Santo Antônio da Barra: The most famous of all 5 forts, it is usually called just Barra lighthouse (Farol da Barra), because there's a typical striped lighthouse inside the fort. It is very imposing, and settled in a nice place, with beautiful views of the coast and the nearby Santa Maria Fort. The entrance is not free, as it functions as the Nautic Museum of Bahia. The exposition is ok, it must be more interesting for people who likes ships, not much my case. The visitors can also go to the top of the lighthouse. It is a must-see if you're in Salvador, a typical fort, very well preserved, and easy to reach, as it's located in a very touristic area.     

Santa Maria: From Santo …

First off a bit of a warning, Copacabana Fort isn't part of this proposal, more on that later.

This is a proposal that encompasses a large array of forts around Brazil though mostly on the Atlantic coast, built by Europeans in the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. My attempted visits focused on three around Rio de Janeiro, and it seems not all of them are part of the proposal.

Attempt one: Santa Cruz da Barra Fort

Well the focus of this little side trip wasn't really to get inside the fort in Niteroi, rather it was to cruise across Guanabara Bay and visit the town’s iconic MAC art gallery. This was well worth the trip, even though the gallery itself wasn't open. The sailing across the harbour gave us the closest view of landing planes we are ever likely to have and the gallery enabled us to see one of Oscar Niemeyer's defining works. From underneath its Flying Saucer like bulk you actually get a good view of the two forts at the entrance to the bay.

In regards to the actual nominated fort, it is quite a long journey from the ferry port and it is a functioning military base so we didn't really want to spend several hours on public transport getting to a locked gate, we only had a short stay in Rio and this didn't look like the best use of our time. The ferry affords another perspective of the mouth of …