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Fort of São Francisco Xavier (Castelo do Queijo)

The Castelo do Queijo is a coastal fortress with a trapezoidal plan, built of granite on a rock that gives the place its name: the "cheese castle". It stands in the parish of Nevogilde, next to the mouth of the Douro, and was built in the 17th century to protect the coast from North African pirates. In 1643 King John IV ordered a new design, the work of the French engineer Miguel de l'Ècole, and it would be finished around 1661-1662. The complex is surrounded by a dry moat and by areas that the sea floods at high tide. At the corners there are domed sentry boxes on stepped corbels. The main door has a round arch and a wooden drawbridge, with the coat of arms of Portugal above it. A short tunnel with arrow slits and niches with St Francis Xavier and the Virgin leads to the inner courtyard, with stairs, balconies, a powder magazine and a ramp up to the upper platform.

Things to do at Fort of São Francisco Xavier (Castelo do Queijo): 4 missions

• Climb the courtyard ramp to the upper platformCross the courtyard, find the powder magazine and climb the ramp to the upper platform to see the sea.
• Find the domed sentry boxes at the cornersWalk around the fort and find the rounded sentry boxes that jut out at the corners, resting on stepped corbels.
• Cross the drawbridge and look at the door's coat of armsGo up to the main door, cross the wooden drawbridge and look above the arch for the coat of arms of Portugal.
• Walk through the entrance tunnel and look for the nichesGo through the tunnel to the courtyard and look at the arrow slits and the niches with the images of St Francis Xavier and the Virgin.

Near Fort of São Francisco Xavier (Castelo do Queijo)

Source: Web oficial - Visit Porto