Oman

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. YEMEN: Soko (Socotra): Fortaleza de São Miguel Portuguese: Apr./May 1507 fort – 1511 abandoned and dismantled Source: Pereira da Costa “Socotra e o domínio português no Oriente” Kamaran:  Kamaran is an island in west Yemen. In the 16th Century, portuguese established there an outpost. Source: wikipedia Written by Zé MIguel Silva ...

Situated in a natural harbour near the Oman capital Muscat, tha city of Matrah (Matara). The Portuguese built a fort in Matrah in 1588, the fort was part of the defenses of the city of Muscat. The Portuguese controlled the fort between 1588 and 1648. The fort at Matrah was a square fort with four bastions at the corners. For the image ...

The city of Sohar (24 ° 21’N – 56 ° 43’E) is located along the Omani coast about 200 km north-west of Muscat. The Portuguese came to Soar in 1507 and made ​​the city tributary. After several rebellions, the Portuguese retook the city in 1516 and again in 1523. The Portuguese fortified Soar probably between 1559 and 1561 building a square ...

Sibo (As Sib) (23°40’N – 58°12’E) is a coastal town located along the Oman coast 50 km north-west of Muscat, where the Portuguese in the 17th had a triangular fortress with bastions in the angles. Here a description of this fort extracted from António Bocarro “O livro das plantas de todas as fortalezas, cidades e povoações do Estado da Índia Oriental”: ...

The Portuguese first conquered and sacked Mascate in Oman in 1507. The Portuguese retained the control over Muscat for more than a century. The Turks conquered from the Portuguese Muscat on two occasions: in 1552 and in 1581-1588. The fortifications of Muscat were reinforced by Belchior Calaça in 1588 by order of the governor of Portuguese India Don Manuel de Sousa Coutinho. The fortifications ...

Curiate (Kuriyat/Qurayyat) is a town situated south-east of Muscat along the Oman coast. The Portuguese fortress of Curiate (Kuriyat/Qurayyat) was rectangular fortress built by the Arabs and conquered by the Portuguese in 1507. The fort was probably rebuilt in the last quarter of the 16th century. The Portuguese lost this fort in 1648. Here a description of this fort extracted from António ...

Borca was a Portuguese fortress that stood at 12 (?) leagues from Muscat along the coast of Oman. The fortress had a triangular shape with three bastions at the corners of the triangle. In the fortress lived a Portuguese captain with 8 Portuguese soldiers and 30 lascarins. Probably the Portuguese fort of Borca corresponds to the present city of Barka ...

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster The Portuguese decided shortly after their arrival in the Eastern Seas to prevent the Arabs’ trade by the conquest of Ormuz. For its strategical position, dominating the entrance to the Persian Gulf, Ormuz was one of the two strategical strongholds on the trade routes between the Arab world and Asia ...

Written by Marco Ramerini. Photos by Fritz Gosselck and João Sarmento. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. Oman is a country rich in fortifications, some of these were built along the Omani coast by the Portuguese in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, often altered from the original forms several forts built or modernized by the Portuguese are still visible today. ...