Atalaia (Atalaia Fortress)
To go to Forte de Atalaia (Atalaia Fort or bateria da Mota) it is necessary to go up by the asphalt road and go out to a track where, after walking few meters, we have to stop in front of a cliffy and rough gap which was deeply dug in a shale soil. Crossing the small bridge over the gap, we find a round tower with only one door access in pointed arch shape, surrounded by mimosa flowers. In the inside there is a well-built stoned parapet where there were three gunboats based on boulders in order to cover any progress of the enemy that could deceive the defense of the Portuguese fortresses along the river Minho such as Vila Nova de Cerveira and Forte de Azevedo, in Breia (Lovelhe). In structural terms this was a few effective men work who were quartered in the inside, mainly by the dry deep gap, upon which a stone parapet was built at the top to protect the foot-soldiery that guarded the fort. There are no written records; however it seems that this battery is a work of the Restauração (Restoration), which took place at the same time as the construction of the Forte de Lovelhe. In the book “Livro das Fortalezas de Duarte d`Armas” it is documented in letters dating from the eighteenth century together with other northern portuguese fortresses and the Galician Fortress of Goián.
Location: Vila Nova de Cerveira
To go to Forte de Atalaia (Atalaia Fort or bateria da Mota) it is necessary to go up by the asphalt road and go out to a track where, after walking few meters, we have to stop in front of a cliffy and rough gap which was deeply dug in a shale soil. Crossing the small bridge over the gap, we find a round tower with only one door access in pointed arch shape, surrounded by mimosa flowers. In the inside there is a well-built stoned parapet where there were three gunboats based on boulders in order to cover any progress of the enemy that could deceive the defense of the Portuguese fortresses along the river Minho such as Vila Nova de Cerveira and Forte de Azevedo, in Breia (Lovelhe). In structural terms this was a few effective men work who were quartered in the inside, mainly by the dry deep gap, upon which a stone parapet was built at the top to protect the foot-soldiery that guarded the fort. There are no written records; however it seems that this battery is a work of the Restauração (Restoration), which took place at the same time as the construction of the Forte de Lovelhe. In the book “Livro das Fortalezas de Duarte d`Armas” it is documented in letters dating from the eighteenth century together with other northern portuguese fortresses and the Galician Fortress of Goián.
Location: Vila Nova de Cerveira
