Chapel of Nossa Senhora do Baluarte
Capela de Nossa Senhora do Baluarte
A small Manueline chapel built in 1522 on a bastion of the old fort, considered the oldest surviving European building in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Capela de Nossa Senhora do Baluarte was built in 1522, earlier than Fort São Sebastião, and stands on the bastion at the island's northernmost tip. It is generally regarded as the oldest surviving European building in the Southern Hemisphere. The chapel is small, with a stone vault, and its doorway and window frames carry typical Portuguese Manueline decoration. Inside are the tombstones of Portuguese navigators. The sea lies on three sides, and from the doorway you can watch the blue water breaking against the fort walls, which is very striking. The chapel is inside the fort, so you need a fort ticket to enter. Most visitors walk through the wall passage to reach it and see it together with the fort.
Opening hours
Same hours as Fort São Sebastião
Nearby sights
- Fortress of São Sebastião
- Palace of São Paulo
- Church of Misericórdia & Museum of Sacred Art
- Stone Town
- Main Mosque of Ilha de Moçambique
- Colonial Hospital of Ilha de Moçambique
- Makuti Town
- Church of Santo António