The Fort São João Baptista of Ibo (Fortaleza de São João Baptista do Ibo in Portuguese) is one of the forts built by the Portuguese Empire on Ibo Island, Cabo Delgado Province in Mozambique.
History Located by the sea, unusually shaped like a poligon star, the fort was designed by António José Teixeira Tigre. It was constructed between 1789 and 1795.Jorge Correia: Ibo e Arquipélago das Quirimbas, Cabo Delgado, Moçambique in hpip.org. It contains service buildings, capable of housing 300 men and was equipped with 15 artillery pieces. It helped the Portuguese on Ibo resist pirate attacks from the Sakalava of Madagascar.Teresa Cotrim: Moçambique p.267. A chapel was added in 1795. It was classified as a historical monument in 1962.Jorge Correia: Ibo e Arquipélago das Quirimbas, Cabo Delgado, Moçambique in hpip.org It was restored the following year.
The fort was used as a prison during the Estado Novo regime.Funada-Classen Sayaka: The Origins of War in Mozambique: A History of Unity and Division, African Minds, 2012, p.312.
The fort was used to shelter families whose homes were destroyed by the hurricane Kenneth in 2019.Dias passam e revelam destruição no continente e ilha do Ibo in observador.pt
Due to its size, design and construction quality, it is considered the second fortress in Mozambique, after Fort São Sebastião on Mozambique Island. It is one of three forts erected on Ibo Island, alongside the smaller forts São José and Santo António.
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See also Portuguese Mozambique
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