This defensive structure was crucial in protecting against attacks by pirates and corsairs who frequently traversed the waters of the mid-Atlantic, targeting ships returning from the newly discovered territories of the Far East.

The fort was erected in 1576 by the Corregedor of the Azores, Ciprião de Figueiredo e Vasconcelos,[1] from defensive plans first elaborated by Tommaso Benedetto.

During the War of Spanish Succession (1702–1714) it was called "The Fortress of the Holy Spirit on the Point of Facho", in the report "Fortificações nos Açores existentes em 1710".

The report of Field Marshal Barão de Bastos in 1862 informed: Yet, by 1881, the structure was already in ruins, the stones from the walls were sold systematically for the construction of other buildings.

[8] In the 20th century, between the 1950s and 1960s, the construction of the northern protective pier by American military forces in order to help shelter offloading, resulted in further investigation of the fort's ruins.

Yet, unable to fulfill this compromise, the remains of the fort was used to support the arriba at the end of the bay, between Chagas and Ribeira de Beljardim, sometime during the 1960s.