In Praça da Autonomia, in Funchal, there are large steps that form a kind of auditorium facing the city's old pillory. But this minimalist structure is the roof of a museum that pays homage to archaeology, the São Filipe Fort Museum Centre.
The space recovers the ruins of an old fort and now, as a museum, displays objects that bear witness to the commercial and daily life of the city from the 15th to the 19th century. But it also shows part of the ruins and has a reserved access area, where the original pavement of a street in Funchal has been recovered and uncovered.
The São Filipe Fort is now open to visitors. It offers a journey through the history of this military construction, but also through the way of life of this Atlantic city. It displays pieces from the collection of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, in a signposted route with supporting information.
The original fort was located in a square between the mouths of the Ribeiras de João Gomes and Santa Luzia rivers. Between the 16th and 17th centuries, this square was the main centre of Funchal. There was a pillory, a symbol of municipal power at the time, where local justice was carried out.
In 1572, a wall was planned from Ribeira de São João to Ribeira de João Gomes, along with a military structure called an ‘estancia’ at the junction of the stream and the seafront wall.
According to some authors, the work was carried out by the Royal master builder, Mateus Fernandes. In 1574, the first reports of the construction of this fortress appeared, with the seizure of houses near the Nossa Senhora do Calhau bridge.
In 1581, Captain Luis Melo mentioned in a letter to Lisbon that the new fortress was ready and armed, and even provided drawings of the structure. The fortress occupied the space between the two rivers, João Gomes and Santa Luzia, and had a battery facing the sea, from where the attackers would come, and facing the town, the houses in the square. It had small houses for the garrison and was accessed through a tunnel, opened in houses that probably already existed.
