São Sebastião

Historic cannons on Rua da Praia in São Sebastião. Colonial artillery facing the Canal and Ilhabela, a reminder of the defense against pirates in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Historic Cannons
The Historic Cannons are the most dramatic and visually striking element of the Rua da Praia waterfront — cast-iron artillery pieces arranged along the shore, pointed directly at the São Sebastião Channel and Ilhabela, exactly as they were when they served to defend the colonial town. Their presence is not decorative: during the 17th and 18th centuries, São Sebastião was a constant target of attacks by English, French and Dutch pirates and privateers who used the Channel and São Sebastião Island as a base of operations — the most famous of them being the English privateer Thomas Cavendish, who plundered Santos at Christmas and ended up hanged from the mast of his own galleon off Castelhanos. The cannons that now line Rua da Praia are direct witnesses to this history of raids, defense and the survival of a coastal village in an age of Atlantic piracy. 

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