Fort of Santa Cruz

Fort of Santa Cruz, is a 16th-century fortification located in the civil parish of Angústias, municipality of Horta, on the island of Faial in the Portuguese Azores. Occasionally referred to as the Castelo de Santa Cruz by locals, it is situated in the historic centre of the city, on the edge of Horta Bay. It was constructed to work in conjunction with the Fort of Bom Jesus at the mouth of the Ribeira da Conceição and Fort of Greta along the coast of the extinct spatter cone Monte da Guia, to defend the entrance to the harbour and southern access to the Bay.HistoryA study of the defensive conditions of the archipelago of the Azores, from pirates and privateers, attracted by the riches of the ships returning from Africa, India and Brazil, began in the middle of the 16th century by the military engineer Bartolomeu Ferraz. In his plan to the Portuguese Crown, Ferraz warned of the vulnerability of the islands of São Miguel, Terceira, São Jorge, Faial and Pico to pirate attacks or Protestant military forces. His plan justified the need to improve the security conditions at the ports and protect ships in Azorean waters: "... because the three islands import a lot...and principally aid the carracks from India and the French against reason, justly or injustly, take everything they can..." During the reigns of Kings John III (1521–1557) and Sebastian (1568–1578), along with new regiments sent to the region, military architect Tommaso Benedetto was sent to reformulate the defenses (in 1567), during the regency of Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal. Benedetto understood that with a determined maritime force, the defense of the islands could be concentrated at ports and anchorages, by the local population and under the responsibility of the municipal authorities.