ARCHITECTURAL CHANGES IN THE FORTRESS OF SANTA CATARINA (PB) BETWEEN THE 16th TO THE 18th CENTURIES

Abstract

This paper aimed to study the changes in the military architecture of the Fortress of Santa Catarina, located in Paraíba, consisting of the only fortification from the Colonial period of this state, which is in better conditions of preservation and open to the public. Its origin dates back to the end of the 16th century as a small wooden fort, and in the next two hundred years it underwent several reforms that made it a bigger fortification, which presents the features that can be seen today. For this study we based on military history to describe the architectural characteristics of the fortifications of the Modern Age, in addition to commenting and explaining how such structures arose and were used in the way of waging war at that time, especially during the Dutch-Portuguese Wars (1630-1654), a time when the fortress was the target of two sieges and occupied by the Dutch. As a source of research we used reports, maps and paintings, which contributed to determine the structural changes that this fortress has undergone over more than two centuries.