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On May 2018, the museum was closed fro improvements.

The fortress of Peniche or fortress of St Francis is a National Monument.

In 1438, by order of king Duarte, was built the port of Peniche, and it was assumed the need to fortify the settlement. Only in the 16^th century, during the reign of King João III, the project to build a fortress on the peninsula of Peniche was begun. It was carried out in 1557 under the responsibility of Luís de Ataíde, Count of Atouguia, completed in 1558 (see inscription over the door of the Round Bastion).

The fortress was completed only in the middle of the 17^th century during the great remodelling of the Portuguese coast's defensive system. Around 1642 and up to 1645, during the reign of king João IV the fortification was augmented, resulting in a great fortress, with irregular star-shaped plan delimited by a curtain of walls with polygonal bastions and a second defensive line. The ramparts of the fortification line would only be completed in the first half of the 18^th century. In 1837, a fire destroyed the governor's palace, which would have a facade of classic scholarly taste with double loggia.

The fortress played an important role in the coastal defence, especially during the French Invasions and the Liberal Wars. The fortress also served as a shelter for South African Boer refugees, to imprison Germans and Austrians during World War I, political prisoners from 1934 to 1974 in the Estado Novo, and temporary accommodation for returnees of former African colonies. In 1984, was transformed into a Municipal Museum and there will be installed the new Resistance and Freedom National Museum.

See - entrance gate, ravelin, sea tunnel, fortress door, noble hall, round stronghold, cavern vent, St. Barbara chapel, Governor’s palace, cistern patio, watchtower and political prison.

Loggia - arcade supported by piers or columns, open on one side at least and, in this case, as part of a building (as a porch).