Brazil · 18th century
Fortress of Santo Antônio de Ratones ranks #8,670 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #55 of the 78 mapped in Brazil. Founded 1740, it is older than 18% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 685 atlas entries founded in the 18th century. 4 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Brazil compares in the castle statistics.
The Fortress of Santo Antônio de Ratones is situated on the island of Ratones Grande, in the municipality of Florianópolis, in the state of Santa Catarina, in Brazil.
It was erected at the entrance to the North Bay, between the island of Santa Catarina and the mainland.
Designed and built by Brigadier José da Silva Paes, first governor of the Captaincy of Santa Catarina (1739–1745), it is a remnant of the triangular defensive system of the entrance to the North Bay, set up in the first half of the 18th century. Besides this fortress, that system consisted of the two other fortresses of São José da Ponta Grossa and Santa Cruz de Anhatomirim. Work began in 1740.
From the middle of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th, already abandoned, some of its buildings served as a leper colony, taking in contagious patients from the region. It then served as a coal depot for the Brazilian navy.
Completely abandoned and in ruins during the 1980s, it underwent a restoration campaign completed in 1991, under the management of the Federal University of Santa Catarina.
Machine-translated from “Forteresse de Santo Antônio de Ratones” on the French Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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