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The Sant'Ana do Estreito Fort, or simply Santana Fort, is located in the city of Florianópolis, state of Santa Catarina, Brazil.



In a dominant position at the height of the strait between the island of Santa Catarina and the mainland, it was intended for the defense of the former anchorage of Vila de Nossa Senhora do Desterro (today city of Florianópolis).



Built in 1763 under Colonel Francisco Antonio Cardoso de Meneses e Sousa (1762 - 1765), with the layout of Lieutenant Colonel Sa and Faria himself (SOUZA, 1885: 124; BOITEUX, 1912: 234 ap CABRAL, 1972: 13) , was intended for the defense of that anchorage in the strait, passage between the north and south bay of the island. Because his stepfather is the hill on which he stands, Monsignor Pizarro states that the nearby Rita-Maria hill was the best place to erect a fortress that dominated the strait, the Praia de Fora, and the village. (PIZARRO. Historical Memory of Rio de Janeiro (Vol. IX), p. 271. apud: SOUZA, 1885: 124).



This position was reinforced from 1793 with the construction of the Fort of São João do Estreito, which was bordered by the Continent.



The first known commander of the fort was Ensign Rodrigo José Brandão, a native of Bahia. Originally artillery with nine pieces (SOUZA, 1885: 124), it retained ten different calibers (six iron and four bronze, in precarious condition), during the survey carried out in 1786 by Ensign José Correia Rangel for the Portuguese Crown.



Considered out of service from May 1907, it passed to the Ministry of Agriculture, which installed a weather station there (Notice of July 26, 1912) (Garrido, 1940: 143). Under the current Hercílio Luz Bridge, which since the 1920s connects the island to the mainland, the Fort of Sant'Ana was listed by the National Historical and Artistic Heritage in 1938.



Abandoned, it was invaded by low-income populations until 1969. Owned by the Union and under state government administration, it was definitively restored by the Institute of National Historical and Artistic Heritage between 1969-1970, which returned it to its original forms, being the first work of this nature carried out in Santa Catarina fortifications. Since 1975, it has been housed in an annex building, the Major Antônio de Lara Ribas Museum of Weapons, of the Military Police of the State of Santa Catarina, inaugurated on March 14, the result of an agreement signed between IPHAN and the City Hall, with the intervention of the Military Police. of State.



The restoration of this fort marked the beginning of the process of rediscovery and recovery of Santa Catarina fortifications, during abandoned and ruined years.



The Fort of Santana, in masonry made of stone and lime, was built on a single embankment, supported by walls 1.20 meters thick on the parapet, with a plan in the shape of an irregular hexagon, and a single circular guardhouse on its top. at the apex of the wall watching the north bay channel. The original project comprises a linear set of one-story stone masonry buildings, which open onto the embankment where seven barbed towers were available, presenting only what is strictly necessary for the smooth operation of the masonry. fortification:



    Access Corridor and Doorway

    Platform or embankment, with seven gunboats arranged

    Soldier Barracks (Troop Barracks)

    Kitchen

    Officers' Barracks (Commander's House)

    Guard Corps

    Palamenta House

    Gunpowder House (Gunpowder Stable)



Regarding the alleged passage of Tiradentes through this fort in Santa Catarina, Minas Gerais historian Augusto de Lima Jr. (History of the Minas Gerais Inconfidence, and article in the Minas Gerais newspaper, on April 21, 1959), states that Ensign Joaquim José da Silva Xavier (1746-92) - the Tiradentes - who sat in the square (entered military life) in 1769 at the Viceroy Guard Cavalry Company, passing the ranks of soldier, corporal, furriel and sergeant, to be promoted a ensign in 1776, still in the post of pre square, would have gone to Santa Catarina with the reinforcement troop against the invader D. Pedro Ceballos. The Devassa's records, however, clarify that Tiradentes "sat on December 1, 1775" in the 6th Company of the Regular Cavalry Regiment of the Captaincy of Minas Gerais, in the rank of ensign, realizing a salary of 24 $ 000 (twenty four thousand réis), from which it has signed a receipt (Case of the Inconvening Mineira Devassa (2nd ed.).



Of the original set of buildings, only the room of the Powder Room is not present in the current construction. In the façade, the openings with stone frames alternate straight and arched lintels, with the granite doorway at the entrance of the fort. The gently sloping roof reproduces an aspect of oriental architecture. Fort and Museum can be visited daily at Beira-Mar Norte Avenue, under the Hercílio Luz Bridge, downtown Florianópolis. The entrance is free and the set has its own parking.

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