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Fort Jesus (Portuguese: Forte Jesus de Mombaça, Spanish: Fuerte de Jesús) is a fort located on Mombasa Island. Designed by Italian Giovanni Battista Cairati,[1] it was built between 1593 and 1596 by order of King Felipe II of Spain, who also reigned as King Filipe I of Portugal and the Algarves, to guard the Old Port of Mombasa. Fort Jesus was the only fort maintained by the Portuguese on the Swahili coast, and is recognised as a testament to the first successful attempt by a Western power to establish influence over the Indian Ocean trade.[2]
Cairati, the designer of the fort, was inspired by Italian architect Pietro Cataneo, while the master builder was Gaspar Rodrigues. The fort was Cairato's last overseas work. Although the design of Fort Jesus is an example of Renaissance architecture, the masonry techniques, building materials, and labour are believed to have been provided by the local Swahili people. The fort was built in the shape of a man (viewed from the air) and is roughly square, with four bulwarks at its corners. The fort is considered a masterpiece of late Renaissance military fortification.
Fort Jesus was captured and recaptured at least nine times between 1631, when the Portuguese lost it to Sultan Yusuf ibn al-Hasan of Mombasa, and 1895, it fell under British rule and was converted into a prison. After the Portuguese recaptured it from the Sultan in 1632, they refurbished it and built more fortifications, subsequently making it harder for the fort to fall. The fort was subject to an epic two-year siege from 1696 to 1698 by the Omani Arabs, led by Saif bin Sultan. The capture of the fort marked the end of Portuguese presence on the coast, although they briefly captured and re-occupied it between 1728 and 1729 with the help of the Swahili city-states. The fort fell under local rule from 1741 to 1837, when it was again captured by the Omanis and used as a barracks, before its occupation by the British in 1895, after the establishment of the East Africa Protectorate (which later became, in 1920, the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya).
Fort Jesus was declared a national museum in 1958. In 2011, it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and highlighted as one of the most outstanding and well-preserved examples of 16th-century Portuguese military fortifications.[2] The fort is Mombasa's most visited tourist attraction.
^Parker, Geoffrey (18 April 1996). The Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500-1800. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521479585. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
^ ab"Fort Jesus, Mombasa". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
FortJesus (Portuguese: Forte Jesus de Mombaça, Spanish: Fuerte de Jesús) is a fort located on Mombasa Island. Designed by Italian Giovanni Battista Cairati...
Arab, Asian, Portuguese and British settlers. In 1997, the Old Town and FortJesus were submitted by the National Museums of Kenya for selection in UNESCO's...
take over Mombasa a third time in 1589, and four years later they built FortJesus to administer the region. Between Lake Malawi and the Zambezi mouth, Kalonga...
attacked Mombasa, besieging the Portuguese FortJesus, in which 2,500 civilians had taken refuge. The siege of the fort ended after 33 months when the garrison...
the south. The old harbour, which is named Port Tudor and guarded by FortJesus, and Tudor Creek separate the island from the northern mainland. Modern...
Convent of Jesus and Mary, Mumbai; Fort Convent, Mumbai (1855) St. Anne’s High School, Fort, Mumbai (1929) Convent of Jesus and Mary, Waverley, Mussoorie (1845)...
strategic control of ports and of shipping lanes. The construction of FortJesus in Mombasa in 1593 aimed to solidify Portuguese hegemony in the region...
Mombasa, besieging 2,500 people who had taken refuge in FortJesus. The Siege of FortJesus ended after 33 months when the thirteen survivors of famine...
their strategic control of ports and shipping lanes. The construction of FortJesus in Mombasa in 1593 was meant to solidify Portuguese hegemony in the region...
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1500 and 1700, but, with the Arab seizure of Portugal's key foothold at FortJesus on Mombasa Island (now in Kenya) in 1698 by Omani ruler Saif bin Sultan...
Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale (CCFL) is an evangelical megachurch in Florida, with over 20,000 worshipers attending on average. Founded in 1985 by Bob...
1698, before losing control of the coast to the Sultanate of Oman when FortJesus was captured. European exploration of the interior commenced in 1844 when...
Portuguese India Mombasa Sultanate Portuguese Victory Portuguese retake FortJesus Siege of Hooghly (1632) Part of Mughal-Portuguese conflicts Mughal Empire...
communication with the fortJesus de Huenuraquí across the river securing the communications of the city of Santa Cruz de Coya in Catirai. Both forts and the city...
for repetitive incursions within the Indian Ocean, including capturing FortJesus in 1698. In Ethiopia and Japan in the 1630s, the ousting of missionaries...
Red Fort to turn white". The Times of India. 20 May 2011. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2013. "Bom Jesus Basilica...
la Mtwana Portuguese and Omani period Vasco da Gama Portuguese Empire FortJesus East African slave trade Omani Empire Said bin Sultan British colonial...
The Jesus bloodline refers to the proposition that a lineal sequence of the historical Jesus has persisted, possibly to the present time. The claims frequently...
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