The Presidency of the Regional Government, through the Regional Directorate of Culture, carried out an archaeological intervention in the Fort of Santa Catarina in Cabo da Praia on the island of Terceira, which allowed the identification of structural remains of at least three construction stages of the fort, all of them prior to the current building whose blueprint was registered Lieutenant Colonel Damião Freire Bettencourt Pego in 1881.
The structures found in the parade ground corroborate the two previous plants attributed to the fort: the first designed by the Infantry Captain Francisco Xavier Machado in 1772 and the second by José Rodrigo de Almeida between 1800 and 1818, almost two decades before the battle of Praia in 1829, after which the fort was rebuilt and expanded to the present building due to the damages it had undergone during that battle.
The recently found structures confirm what was represented in previous blueprints, presenting an “L-shaped” fort, smaller than the current building, with gun ports open to the sea (East) and to the beach (North), an access ramp to the parade ground located in the most protected area (West) and triangular-shaped magazine.
The archaeological work, commissioned by the Regional Directorate of Culture, took place between August 12 and October 2, 2010 was under the guidance of scientific archaeologist Erasun Cortés and it was carried out by the company “Arqueoges, Arqueologia e Gestão de Património, Lda.”