Considered the biggest tropical Island in Rio de Janeiro Ilha Grande was originally inhabitated by indians known as Tupinambas before the 16th century. They used to call the Island Ipaum Guaçu, which means Ilha Grande in portuguese (Big Island). When the Portugueses arrived in Rio de Janeiro the indians started to die by serious diseases brought from Europe.
In the begining of the 3 centuries the population of the Island were very scarce so it was visited repeatedly by the pirates from France, Holand and England. The pirates used to stop there for a rest and for replenishment.
The pirates were looking for the gold that was coming from Paraty to Rio de Janeiro.
The third period was the coffee and the sugar cane plantation in the 19 century. The Island started to be occuppied by farmers who planted coffee and sugar cane to send to Portugal. It was built the first church in 1808 called Freguesia de Santana.
The fourth period was the construction of the prision in 1940 that was built for the political prisioners. It had capacity for 1000 prisioners.
The prision was located in the Dois Rios beach.The prision were closed in 1994 Nowdays it is only the ruins of the prision. After that the fishermen came back to the Island and the tourism became the main activitie on the Island.
The Island have 106 beaches and plenty of activities to do. No cars and no banks make the Island one of the best destinations in Brazil.
