Fort Copacabana
Encyclopedia
Fort Copacabana is a military base at the south end of the beach that defines the district of Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro. The base is open to the public and contains the Museu Histórico do Exército (Museum of the History of the Army) and a coastal defense fort that is the actual Fort Copacabana.

History

The fort is built on a headland that originally contained a small chapel holding a replica of the Virgen de Copacabana
Virgen de Copacabana
The Virgen de Copacabana is the patron saint of Bolivia. She is venerated in Bolivia during her feast day of February 2, the day of the Purification of Mary, or feast of the Virgen de la Candelaria...

, the patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...

 of Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

. In 1908 the Brazilian army started to build a modern coastal defense fort on the headland to protect both the beach of Copacabana and the entrance to the harbour of Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

. The fort was completed in 1914. It consists of two cupolas, one holding a pair of 305mm (12 inch) Krupp
Krupp
The Krupp family , a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th...

 cannons, and the other a pair of 190mm (7.5 inch) Krupp cannons. The cupola with the 305mm guns is behind and above that of the 190mm guns so that it can fire over them. The 305mm Krupp guns could fire a shell of some 445 kg a distance of up to 23 km. The 190mm guns could fire from 200meters to 18,200meters. The fort also has two small cupolas on the flanks, each of which held a 75mm quick-firing gun. Unlike the large Krupp guns, these 75mm guns are no longer in place.

On 5 July 1922, the fort was the centre point of the 18 of the Copacabana Fort revolt
18 of the Copacabana Fort revolt
The 18 of the Copacabana Fort revolt happened on July 5, 1922, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, then Federal District of Brazil. It was the first revolt of the tenentista movement, in the context of the Brazilian Old Republic.- Tenentismo :...

. It was the first revolt of the tenentista movement, in the context of the Brazilian Old Republic. The rebellious officers turned the fort's guns on Rio de Janeiro. To suppress the revolt, the government brought up two battleships, the São Paulo
Brazilian battleship Sao Paulo
São Paulo was a dreadnought battleship designed for the Brazilian Navy by the British company Armstrong Whitworth. She was the second of two ships in the Minas Geraes class, and was named after the state and city of São Paulo....

 and the Minas Geraes. On 6 July São Paulo bombarded the fort, firing five salvos and obtaining at least two hits; the fort surrendered half an hour later. Minas Geraes did not fire.

Brazil disbanded its coastal defense artillery branch in 1987. At that time the fort was deactivated, at least as far as the its role as a coastal artillery post was concerned.

Visiting the fort

The hours for the Museum are 10 am to 6 pm and the fort are 10 am to 8 pm, Tuesday to Sunday and holidays. Admission for adults is R$
Brazilian real
The real is the present-day currency of Brazil. Its sign is R$ and its ISO code is BRL. It is subdivided into 100 centavos ....

4 per adult; there are discounts and free tours for the elderly and children. At the entrance to the base there is a guard in a 19th Century uniform.

The museum has several exhibits focusing on different periods and events in the history of the army in Brazil. Regrettably, the Brazilian Expeditionary Force
Brazilian Expeditionary Force
The Brazilian Expeditionary Force or BEF was a force about 25,700 men and women arranged by the Army and Air Force to fight alongside the Allied forces in the Mediterranean Theatre of World War II...

s participation in the Italian campaign in World War II gets only limited treatment, and Brazil's involvement in World War I
Brazil during World War I
In 1917, the Brazilian president Venceslau Brás declared war against the Central Powers. Brazil in World War I had a position supported by the Hague Convention, keeping initially neutral, trying not to restrict the market to their export products, mainly coffee, latex and industrial manufactured...

 receives no treatment.
Outside the museum there are several artillery pieces from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. For instance, one field piece is a 5-barrel quick-firing gun, each barrel being of 37mm. Brazil purchased this Hotchkiss revolving cannon
Hotchkiss gun
The Hotchkiss gun can refer to different products of the Hotchkiss arms company starting in the late 19th century. It usually refers to the 1.65-inch light mountain gun; there was also a 3-inch Hotchkiss gun...

, in 1876. Another field piece is a British-made Vickers-Armstrong Mark XIX 6" (152.4mm) gun, made in 1918. Brazil purchased this piece in 1940 for use in coastal defense.

2016 Summer Olympics

For the 2016 Summer Olympics
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad, are a major international multi-sport event to be celebrated in the tradition of the Olympic Games, as governed by the International Olympic Committee...

, the fort is scheduled to host the marathon swimming and triathlon
Triathlon
A triathlon is a multi-sport event involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance events. While many variations of the sport exist, triathlon, in its most popular form, involves swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances...

events.

External links

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