Mount Fortress

East of Saint Paul's Ruins, on the 52-meter-tall Mount Hill, Mount Fortress was constructed between 1617 and 1626. It was built to safeguard the Jesuits' (mostly Portuguese Jesuits') property in Macau, particularly from pirates. Later, the fort was taken over by the competent authorities and the Portuguese colonial governor for the defense of Macau.

The fort takes up about 8,000 square meters of space. The fort's perimeter was surrounded by 32 muzzle-loading cannons, and it has modest watchtowers at each of its two southeasterly corner locations. In order to successfully thwart the attempted Dutch invasion of Macau in 1622, the fort was essential.

Up until 1965, the fort was a restricted military location. Then, the fort's barracks were turned into a weather observatory, and it was made public. The observatory stopped operating in 1996, was moved to Taipa, and then was destroyed to make room for the Museum of Macau, which became operational on April 19, 1998. A panoramic view of Macau's mainland is available from the park covered in trees at the summit of the fort.

Location: Santo António, Macau, China