Fort Coligny

Fort Coligny was a fortress founded by Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon in Guanabara Bay, Brazil in 1555, in what constituted the so-called France Antarctique historical episode.

For protection against attacks by hostile Indians and the Portuguese, Villegaignon built the fortress with the help of the 500 colonists who travelled with him in two ships armed by the king of France, on a small island called Serigipe by the Indians of the region, near the mouth of the large Guanabara Bay. The island was rocky and almost barren, but served Villegaignon's purpose of being near the shore, at the same time achieving a good defensive position against attacks from sea and land.

The fortress fell and was destroyed on March 17, 1560, under the siege of Portugal's navy and troops under the command of Mem de Sá, third Governor-General of Brazil. Villegaignon had already returned to France, in 1558.

Text adapted from “Fort Coligny” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Fort Coligny ranks #2,634 of 5,479 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #10 of the 62 mapped in Brazil. See how Brazil compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗