Dondo

Dondo lies near Massangano, at the meeting of the Kwanza and Lucala rivers in the interior of Angola. The confluence commanded a route inland from Luanda, and the high ground above the water made a natural position for a fortress. The Portuguese established a fortified base here in the late sixteenth century amid their wars with Ndongo.

When Dutch forces captured Luanda in 1641, Portuguese officials and refugees withdrew to Massangano. The settlement remained a centre of Portuguese resistance during the Dutch occupation, until an expedition from Brazil retook Luanda in 1648. Its fortifications and river position made Massangano a key link between the coast and the contested interior. A second fort on a nearby outcrop and defensive ditches protected approaches towards the Lucala.