Portuguese colonial architecture
Many former colonies, especially Brazil, Macau, and India, promote their Portuguese architecture as major tourist attractions and many are UNESCO world heritage sites.
In North Africa, the Portuguese conquered Ceuta, 1415, Alcácer Ceguer, 1458, Arzila, 1471, Tangiers, 1471, Mazagão, 1485, Ouadane, 1487, Safim, 1488, and Graciosa, 1489.
During the 15th century, the Portuguese Empire was expanding and laying its foundations, and the colonial architecture of this period was built following a militaristic and functional base.
Like many Portuguese castles and colonial fortifications of the time, the fort was built in a sober and functional style, with an importance more on defensibility that appearance.
On the interior of most Portuguese colonial forts of the 15th century, highlights of governor's mansions and imperial administrative buildings included the occasional Gothic and Manueline portal, fountain, or window.
During the 15th century, most Portuguese colonial religious buildings, much like those of military and civic purpose, were built soberly and with few extravagancies.
On the interior, however, the Governor's Mansion was built in a simple, but stylish at the time, Alentejo style, originating in the south of Portugal.
Portugal's immense wealth from its empire, mainly from the spice trade, fueled its historical religious zeal for converting non-Christians.
In India, Portuguese territories were no longer the only powerful Europeans in the region and the colonies there saw minimal expansion, São Tomé de Meliapor, 1687, as well as the transfer of Bombaim to the British, 1661, as part of Catherine of Braganza's dowry.
In Africa, the Portuguese expanded along the coast, with São João Baptista de Ajudá, 1680, and Bissau, 1687, and inland, with Ziguinchor, 1645.
Because of the continuous military action throughout the empire, a large part of 17th-century Portuguese colonial architecture was that of building Baroque, scientifically designed fortifications.
In Portuguese Africa, imperial holdings expanded up the eastern continental coast with the reconquest of Mombaça, 1728, which had been lost in 1698.
It was in the 18th century that the Portuguese colonies in South America gained their importance within the empire, through newly found gold and diamonds, and many great palaces, public buildings, and monuments were created, including the Passeio Público, 1779, the oldest public park in the Americas.
A good example for a Portuguese colonial civic building from the era is the Palace of the Viceroys of Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro.
Richly ornate Baroque exteriors of grey and brown stone on white washed walls were equaled in high design with their gold gilded interiors with intricately painted ceilings and azulejos.
A typification of Portuguese colonial religious architecture of the era is the Church of São Francisco de Assis, in Ouro Preto.
The ornate double-storied portal is typical of the epoch, while the rounded plan of the church is unique to Portuguese Colonial architecture in Brazil.
