Ancient origins
The town of Barcarena has ancient origins, and the first references to the place date back to the 12th century, after the conquest of Lisbon, in which it appears as a property donated by Dom Afonso Henriques to Dom Gonçalo Mendes for the services provided in the Reconquista or reconquest of al-Andalus, the the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula.
Through the centuries, Barcarena was a very fertile area suitable for agriculture, crossed by the river of the same name and with hills that surrounded the respective valley, favorable to the construction of windmills where cereals were ground, whether for local consumption, or for consumption in the city of Lisbon.
The first references to occupation of the Barcarena River Valley indicate the installation of Ferrarias, in the fifteenth century, during the reign of D. João II, the popularly called “Ferrarias d’El Rei” were created, which were initially intended for the manufacture of bladed weapons and firearms.
Overseas expansion
During the reign of D. João V, a time of overseas expansion and industrial growth, the previously abandoned factory got reinstated in 1725, by the hand of the Dutchman António Cremer who, through a public tender, obtained the monopoly on the manufacture of gunpowder in Portugal, thus inaugurating the Real Fábrica da Pólvora de Barcarena (Royal Gunpowder Factory of Barcarena).
In Portugal, according to Fernão Lopes’ chronicles, pyro-ballistic weapons would have been used in the siege of Lisbon in 1384 and by the end of the century they would be in common use, leading to the need to manufacture gunpowder in our country. The first references to gunpowder artisans in Portugal, as well as the first royal provisions regarding the mandatory storage of gunpowder in the Torre da Pólvora (Powder Tower), under protection of the Royal Guard and the exploitation of saltpeter, date back to the reign of D. Afonso V (ruler from 1438 – aged 6 – until his death in 1481).
Worldwide expansion
During the reign of D. João II, there are several records of activities related to the production of gunpowder, but the first factories that are documented date back to the reign of D. Manuel I and were located in Portas da Cruz (currently Santa Apolônia) and in Barcarena. With overseas expansion and the arrival of Portugal in India in 1498, there was a great boost in trade, with the consequent increase in demand for gunpowder to gun the ships as well as the new ports conquered.
The Portuguese artillery potential installed in the strongholds, as well as its innovative characteristics and superior destructive effect, conferred Portuguese supremacy in the East for a long time.
As a result of the abundance of raw materials, there was an increase in weaponry production and gunpowder factories were created throughout the Portuguese Empire: Goa, Chaul and Baçaim in India; Bahia in Brazil, on Ilha Terceira and in Ceuta.
During the Iberian Union, Philip II renovated the weapons workshop and the gunpowder house of Barcarena with the construction of new mills, asking the Viceroy of India in 1618 to send saltpetre to keep the factory running.
In the mid-1600s and with the growing number of mills in the interior of the city of Lisbon, there was a series of protests and petitions against gunpowder production in the urban area and the Chamber was in charge of finding safe places to locate the workshops. In 1673 Carlos de Sousa Azevedo, considered the best gunpowder specialist at the time, signed an exclusive contract with the State and leased the Barcarena mill, committing himself to recovering it and producing all the gunpowder he could with the saltpetre he could find.
The Alcântara Factory began to be administered alongside the Barcarena Factory in 1690, which led to the latter being renamed Fábrica Real and began its continuous operation until 1940.
The exclusive monopoly of the production and sale of gunpowder at national level by the Sousa Azevedo family, which lasted twenty-five years, ended in 1724 with the accusation that they were not producing all the gunpowder possible with the saltpeter that was delivered to them and leading the Junta of the Treasury to seize the Barcarena factory from them.
As a result of the efficient administration of the Dutchman António Cremer, who on October 22, 1725, won the auction of the gunpowder factories, in 1729 the Real Fábrica da Pólvora de Barcarena (FPB) was reopened, starting one of its most successful periods of development and production.
The previous factory engines from the construction of the time of Philip II consisted of four galga engines driven by vertical hydraulic wheels, propelled upwards by water coming from a canal in the Barcarena River and had been replaced during the time of the factory’s administration by Carlos de Sousa Azevedo for the system of pestles with bronze hands, which were less efficient and quite risky for producing sparks and explosions.
Cremer adopted the system of four pestles recommended a hundred years earlier by Leonardo Turriano, but with iron plates imported from Holland, which made it possible to maintain constant production and supply of gunpowder to the country.
After about thirty years and under the pretext of guaranteeing national defense, the Barcarena Gunpowder Factory was removed from the Cremer family by the Junta dos Três Estados and entered a period of administrative disorder that led to a sharp decrease in the average annual production and poor quality of gunpowder, with work being suspended in 1769.
After an explosion that occurred in 1774, the FPB was inspected rigorously by the new Minister of the Navy and Secretary of State for Business and Overseas Domains, who tasked artilleryman Bartolomeu da Costa with rebuilding it, expanding and improving the hydraulic system as well as security measures.
Due to these innovations, gunpowder production more than doubled, reaching an average of 315t per year.
During its existence, the factory was administered by private individuals, by the State (junction of the three States and the Army Arsenal Treasury Board) with these tutelary and administrative changes being mainly responsible for the factory’s poor functioning.
The Factory appeared in the municipality as an alternative to agricultural life, which is harsh and unpredictable, but it also ended up claiming many workers’ lives.
The Black Powder Museum, was opened on June 17, 1998, as part of the recovery of the Barcarena Powder Factory. Integrated into the ancient Complex Barcarena Powder Factory, a large production unity of military material which, after several centuries of activity, would eventually close doors in 1988. The municipality acquired all this space in 1994 for the purpose of preserving the valuable industrial heritage and creating an open culture and leisure space to the public.
Current times
Nowadays, apart from the museum and archeological exhibition, the complex consists of green spaces and picnic parks, a children’s playground, as well a restaurant and an open-air auditorium with capacity to hold 700 people. There are concerts and all sorts of festivals – often connected to local history – are being held.
