Forte de São Tiago das Cinco Pontas, Military fortress and city museum in Recife, Brazil.
Forte das Cinco Pontas is a stone fort near the Capibaribe River in central Recife, Brazil. It has a roughly pentagonal shape, with thick walls and corner positions that were built for defense.
Dutch forces built the original fort in 1630 during their occupation of the region. When Portuguese troops retook the area in 1654, they rebuilt it using stone and limestone, giving it the form that still stands today.
The fortress now houses the Museum of Recife, where maps, photographs and everyday objects tell the story of the city across different periods. Walking through the rooms gives a clear sense of how the city changed from a small port settlement into a large urban center.
The fort is in central Recife and easy to reach on foot from the old city center. Wear comfortable shoes, as the interior has stairs and narrow passages connecting the different sections.
Despite its name meaning "Five Points," the fort today has only four bastions, as one was lost during the Portuguese reconstruction. This change is still readable in the layout if you look carefully at the corners of the walls from the inside.
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