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Saturday, August 13, 2011

Visit the Fort San Francisco - Santa Maria Maggiore (Chaves)

Fort San Francisco de Chaves, located in the Parish of St. Mary Major (Keys). Along with the Fort of São Neutel, this fort was intended to defend the city on the border of Galicia, at the time of the War of Restoration.
The strong features simple plan in the form of stars, with four bastions at the corners, the Vauban system. The walls, with a thickness of one meter, range from four to twenty feet tall and are covered in granite.
The main access is through a gate on the south side by a drawbridge over the moat, now grounded. There are connections from the east side and the west side, all driving through tunnels, to the Plaza de Armas.
Among the buildings inside the fort stands the ancient chapel of St. Francis, which housed three centuries, until 1942, the tomb of King Afonso, first Duke of Braganza, restored and preserved.

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