The Forte de São Roque, or São José, but known locally as the Forte de Meia Praia in Lagos has at last been listed as a monument of public interest.
The new decree was signed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Jorge Barreto Xavier, which distinguishes the Forte de São Roque was published today in the official gazette.
The Forte de São Roque lies strategically in the centre of the beach defining the bay of Lagos and was one of the coastal defences. This 840m2 fort was built between1671-1675 in the face of constant attack from pirates in their swift corsairs keen to plunder and take locals away to be sold as slaves.
The Forte de São Roque is one of the early modern forts around the Algarve's coastline. There remain 44 forts and ex-forts from Alcoutim in the east to Arrifana in the west.
The vernacular simplicity of the Forte de São Roque structure, square in design with the main gateway facing inland and guarded by two bastions, accompanies the Forte da Ponta da Bandeira also on Lagos beach.
The structure was ruined in the 1755 earthquake and was rebuilt from 1796 in the face of the threat from France. By 1822 the fort was listed as 'completamente vazio e destruido’ (completely abandoned and destroyed.)
Throughout the twentieth century there were several attempts to rescue the building from ruin and to develop its tourist potential. These efforts were not helped by a total lack of interest from the government.
In 2007 the Lagos council asked the Ministry of Defence to transfer the fort to municipal management with the aim of carrying out improvement works and to put the building to some use. This request was due to the advanced state of neglect and degradation of the monument.
The fort latterly was used as a customs post until the municipality came forward with a number of ideas for possible uses of the building such as installing a maritime museum, a summer camp, an eco-activity center but nothing happened and in 2009 the Ministry of Culture included the Forte da Meia Praia in a list of monuments that needed intervention work.
The classification of the Forte de São Roque went through a long process of public hearings and technical advice and accorded with the criteria to qualify it for a building of cultural heritage including aesthetic value, architectural design, its landscape, and the fact that it is known and recognised as an important structure.
The new classification of the fort as a monument of public interest may enable proper attention now to be paid to its stability and long term future as one of the fine defensive structures keenly needed in more troubled times.
Of course (and the case of the GNR Head Quarters in Faro comes to mind) it is one thing to declare a building to be a public monument, and another to ensure that the local public and the tourist can enjoy some benefit by having access to the 'monument of public interest.'
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With additonal research by Peter Booker
