History of Rio de Janeiro

Attack of French Villegagnon island by the Portuguese on 15 March 1560.

The acclamation ceremony of King John VI of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 6 February 1818

Port of the Mineiros in Rio de Janeiro

View of Rio de Janeiro from the church of the monastery of São Bento c. 1820

Several years after the Portuguese first explored Brazil, French traders in search of pau-brasil (a type of brazilwood) reached the rich area extending from the Cape Frio coast to the beaches and islands of Guanabara Bay, the economic and, above all, strategic importance of which was already well-known.

Overview

Whaling in Rio de Janeiro possibly in 18th century

In 1555, one of the islands of Guanabara Bay, now called Villegagnon Island, was occupied by 500 French colonists under admiral Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon. Consequently, Villegagnon built Fort Coligny on the island when attempting to establish the France Antarctique colony, which the French called Henriville in honor of Henry II of France.

See also

• Timeline of Rio de Janeiro history
• History of the city of São Paulo

Further reading

See also: Timeline of Rio de Janeiro § Bibliography

• Edmund Roberts Embassy to the Eastern Courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat. New York: Harper & Brothers (1837). Chapter One.

External links

• History of Rio de Janeiro

Media related to History of Rio de Janeiro at Wikimedia Commons