Angelo Fort

 

Angelo Fort Kannur, Kerala, India

History 

 Angelo's Fort has an interesting historical background, as it has seen a number of rulers and invaders. This fort has also seen a number of battles almost all were fought for gaining the possession of this fort. After the construction of this fort in 1505 by Don Francesco de Almeida, it constantly remained under attacks from a number of native rulers in the Siege of Kannur in 1507. However, all their efforts were in vain, as the Fort provided its inhabitants security from any kind of attack. Later on, Almeida refused to surrender the fort to Afonso de Albuquerque who came to supersede himself as the new Governor. Almeida instead captured Afonso de Albuquerque and imprisoned him inside the Fort. In the year 1663, the Dutch captured the Kannur Fort from the Portuguese. They modernized the fort by adding the bastions Hollandia, Zeelandia and Frieslandia which are the major features of the present structure of St Angelo's Fort. The original Portuguese Structure was pulled down later. The Dutch later on sold the fort to a native king Ali Raja of Arakkal, in the year 1772. But in 1790 the British seized the Fort, renovated it into a military base and used it as their chief military station in Malabar. Today, St. Angelo?s Fort or Kannur Fort is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India, which takes care of its maintenance.