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Points of interest

Paçô Fort

Small maritime fort built between the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century in a strategic location to defend the coastline. It is one of several built as a strategic measure of coastal fortification ordered by the king D. Pedro I following the Portuguese Restauration of Independence.
The section facing land on this star-shaped fort has a tenaille with two redans united by a short curtain (defensive) wall interrupted by the main entrance. The side facing the sea has another two smaller redans with a barbette platform in the shape of a half-moon.

The Vinha Fort (Areosa) and Cão Fort (Lagarteira, Vila Praia de Âncora) both share a similar design thus indicating a common building program along the coastline. According to various scholars, these were designed by the engineer Manuel Pinto Villa Lobos. The cross-fire between the above-mentioned forts made it impossible for enemy vessels to approach this area of the coast, where it was most vulnerable.

The fort has been classified as a Public Interest Monument since 1967 (Decree no. 47 508, DG 1st serie, no. 20 of 24 January 1967).