A star-shaped fort on the hill above the bay, as old as the city itself. Its ramparts give the finest view in Luanda.
Paulo Dias de Novais began the fort in 1576, the year he founded the city. For centuries it was the seat of colonial power on the coast.
It was also a place of suffering: people captured in the interior were held here before being shipped to Brazil.
Today it houses the Museum of the Armed Forces. Aircraft and artillery stand in the courtyard, alongside colonial tile panels and the bronze Portuguese navigators removed from the city's squares after independence.
The ramparts look over the Marginal, the bay and the Ilha. It is a military site, so ask before photographing the exhibits.
An hour or two, in the morning.
Taxi to the gate above the Baixa; pay the small entry fee.
Aircraft, guns and vehicles of the long wars.
Blue-and-white azulejos of the colonial city.
Bronze explorers and governors, gathered here after 1975.
The bay, the Marginal and the Ilha laid out below.
A short taxi from the Baixa or the Marginal; the climb on foot is steep and busy with traffic.
A small fee in kwanzas at the gate.
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons and Pexels under their licences, and our own.
