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Fiscal Island - History and leisure in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
As the plane starts to descend on Santos Dumont Airport, all the passengers stretch their necks towards the windows. Tourists and 'cariocas' (people who was born in Rio de Janeiro) alike want to enjoy the sight of a little green castle surrounded by coconut trees and palm trees on a small island in Guanabara Bay. Famed as the venue of the last ball hosted by the Brazilian Empire on 9 November 1889, Fiscal Island stands out in the landscape and is an attraction open to the public.
Among the attractions, halls with temporary and permanent exhibitions that portray the history of the island and of the Brazilian Navy, stained-glass windows and carved stonework – columns, arches, festoons and symbols of the Brazilian Empire.
In 1881 the customhouse started to be built, a design of engineer Adolpho Josй Del Vecchio. Soon after, the island received the visit of D. Pedro II. Delighted with the superb view of the bay, the Emperor is said to have defined it as “a delicate jewel box, worthy of a dazzling jewel”.
