“It’s important to us that younger people, schools, and those who visit us know the history of the fort. Nobody values ​​it if they don't know it. Therefore, we want to make known this heritage that is important to us in cultural, tourist and social terms”, said, in statements to the Lusa agency, the president of the Municipal Council of Vila do Porto, Bárbara Chaves, the only municipality on the Azorean island of Santa Maria.

It is estimated that the fort of São João Baptista, located in the Almagreira parish, dates back to the 16th century, having played an important role in the military history of the Azores.

On October 17, the parliament of the Azores unanimously approved the removal of the maritime public domain of the ruins of the fort (which belonged to the State), making it part of the private domain of the Autonomous Region of the Azores.

The virtual reconstruction of the fort will be presented on Saturday, at the Vila do Porto library, at 8:30 pm local time (9:30 pm in Lisbon), with the presence of the responsible archaeologist, Diogo Teixeira Dias.

According to the mayor of Vila do Porto, the municipality is “doing everything” to value that heritage, classified as being of municipal interest even before it was in the region’s domain.

“We wanted to go further. We invited an archaeologist from the Azores, Diogo Teixeira Dias, and challenged him to make a virtual recreation of that building. What was that building at the beginning when it was built, what was it for, how it was used and what it was like and its surroundings”, highlighted Bárbara Chaves (PS).

During the session, a video will be shown remembering the fort when it was built, followed by an explanation of the history of the property.

“There is the video and a set of infographics that will be available in the library on permanent display, available to all visitors. There will not be a sealed video, which will be shown now and no one will see it later. We then want to make it available online so that it can have a greater reach”, said the mayor.

As the virtual reconstruction is another step towards enhancing the fort, Bárbara Chaves called for the intervention of the Government of the Azores (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM) in the requalification of the property.

“It is another component in this process of Fort São João Baptista. We are hopeful that the Regional Government, despite not having anything very concrete in the next plan and budget [for 2024], will now be able to provide more information regarding this process in the next statutory visit”, he reinforced.

Even before the property was transferred to regional ownership, a petition, signed by more than a thousand people, called for the “recovery and preservation of the São João Baptista fort”, highlighting the importance of the infrastructure in the history of the island of Santa Maria.