Fortaleza de Peniche. O monumento e o tempo: um projecto de recuperação

Abstract

The present dissertation has for object of study the Fortress of San Francisco, also known as Fortress of Peniche. It is one of the first and most important military structures of the region, and therefore its construction and constant changes accompanied, at the same time, the morphological evolutions of the Portuguese coast, as well as the historical events that took place at national and international level. The work is structured in four distinct chapters that try to make, in a first part and chronologicaly, an analysis of the monument from the beginning of its construction. Finally, a project proposal is presented, as a response to the study developed during the thesis. The analysis of the object of study is divided into two distinct moments, corresponding to the two functions that the building has played throughout history.At first, the building is studied as a military construction, integrated in the fortified system of the Peniche region, the changes that took place in the territory where the fortress is inserted and the impact that these had on the construction of the monument are discussed. The second moment of analysis focuses on the transformation of the Fortress of Peniche into a prison at the service of Estado Novo. The various moments that led to the restructuring of existing buildings were discussed, as well as the guidelines followed for the works in question. If in the first three chapters the questions concerning the past are approached, it is in the last chapter that one makes a reflection on the present of the fortress. A project proposal is then presented, aiming to recover the buildings that are abandoned, in an attempt to give due dignity to one of the symbols of the city of Peniche, its Fortress.