At the time, and before it was partially destroyed by the installation of a railline to support the construction of the port, the eastern cove of Ponta Delgada was far deeper, and was situated by Gaspar Frutuoso. The temple, as Frutuoso explained, existed since 1522, and was implanted a short distance from the current church. The reference to a "pebble beach", in the bay Ponta dos Alagres, situated in front of the property of Francisco Arruda da Costa, suggests that the remains of the small "castelinho", supports many of the early descriptions. The small fort would, originally, have been situated over the clifftop walls over the coast, which were common to early island forts. The military redoubt, constructed in the 16th-17th century (with its first repair in 1643) was an important bastion in the defense of the zone, and one of the oldest populated spaces.