Rio de Janeiro (São Sebastião)

Timeline

1. 1565Between Sugarloaf Mountain and Dog Face Hill (Urca) · Guanabara BayEstácio de Sá, reinforced from São Vicente and assisted by Jesuits, founded the city on March 1, 1565, naming it São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro, honoring both Saint Sebastian and the reigning King Sebastian I. Sited between Sugarloaf Mountain and Dog Face Hill, it was meant to cut off the French Antarctic Colony's control of Guanabara Bay.
2. 1567–1568Castle Hill (Morro do Castelo) · Guanabara BayIn early 1567 Governor-General Mem de Sá personally led reinforcements, defeating the French and their Tamoio allies with Temiminó and other allies around Flamengo and on Governor's Island, ending the French Antarctic outpost. Estácio was wounded by an arrow in the fighting and died on February 20. The city site then moved to Castle Hill, better for defense and harbor affairs, forming a lasting civic core.
3. 1568–1600Seat of the Rio de Janeiro captaincy · Portuguese BrazilAfter the French were expelled, Rio became the seat of the Rio de Janeiro captaincy; Jesuits built churches and schools around Castle Hill, and sugarcane cultivation and coastal shipping brought the bay into the Portuguese Atlantic network. By the late 16th century it was still a moderately fortified port city, yet already a key node for the Portuguese against French corsairs and for managing indigenous alliances in Brazil's southeast.