Fortaleza de São José da Amura
Fort São José of Amura (Fortaleza de São José da Amura in Portuguese), also known locally as Amura Fort (Fortaleza de Amura), is a fortification located in the city of Bissau, region of Bissau, capital of Guinea-Bissau, in West Africa. History In the last quarter of the 17th century, French presence in Guinea intensified with the activities of the Senegal Company, a chartered company created to trade in slaves to the Antilles. It was in this context that the captain-major of Cacheu, António de Barros Bezerra, reported back to Lisbon the French pretensions to build a fortification in Bissau in a letter to the Portuguese sovereign dated March 4, 1687, saying that they had sent ships with materials for the construction of a fort, although he had managed to prevent this by working with the local king on whose lands the projected fortress was to be built. On the same date, the Portuguese factor of Cacheu also informed the king of the French desire to build a fort on the islet next to Bissau, possibly the islet of Bandim. The new governor of Cape Verde, Veríssimo Carvalho da Costa, on a visit to Guinea, also informed the sovereign about the