It was extensively restored in the 1970s and is now a cultural and educational centre, a venue for music and dance events, and a tourist destination.

[1] It seems more likely that the earlier fort was built in 1634, as part of a fortification programme that the Makassar rulers undertook in response to a war with the Dutch East India Company (abbreviated as VOC) which broke out in that year.

[3] In 1667 Fort Ujung Pandang was ceded to the Dutch as part of the Treaty of Bongaya, after the defeat of the Sultanate of Gowa in the Makassar War.

[4] The stone for the construction of the fort was taken from the karst mountains in Maros, the limestone from Selayar and the timber from Tanete and Bantaeng.

[5][6] Following the Java War of 1825–1830, Javanese prince, and now national hero, Diponegoro was imprisoned in the fort following his exile to Makassar in 1830 until his death in 1855.

During the brief Japanese occupation it was used for conducting scientific research in the field of linguistics and agriculture, after which it fell into disrepair.

La Galigo museum has some prehistoric megaliths from Watampone, as well as ancient weapons, coins, shells, utensils, sketches and stamps.

[3] The buildings on the south curtain, originally used for storage, house a museum displaying local skills in silk weaving, agriculture and boatbuilding; and scale models of indigenous boats.

[3] The barracks on the eastern wall now house a small library, featuring old Dutch books that mostly belonged to Reverend Mates, a 19th-century missionary.