The Frenchman Duguay Trouin’s invasion of Rio de Janeiro in 1711 had already been forgotten by the time the Count of Oeiras, the future Marquis of Pombal, transferred the Brazilian capital from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro. Salvador had been built as a capital. Tomé de Souza had constructed Salvador with this objective in a precarious but appropriate structure. This was not the case of Rio de Janeiro. It was mandatory to re-conquer the region of Guanabara Bay, which had been invaded and occupied by the French since 1555. Mem de Sá defeated the French in 1560, destroyed Coligny Fortress, and took many prisoners. However, lacking resources, especially gunpowder, Mem de Sá gave up the idea of moving on to São Vicente. The French, who had escaped to the local forests, returned to rebuild their fortress. So, it became necessary for the Portuguese to settle in that region in order to keep it free of invaders. This was precisely what Estácio de Sá did. He landed with his people on Praia Vermelha (Red Beach), at the foot of Pão de Açucar (Sugarloaf), and founded a village. The village consisted of only a few houses with thatched roofs and was surrounded by a mud fence (pau-a-pique). It was more a military camp than a village. When the French were finally expelled in 1567, the Portuguese moved to the São Januário Mountain (behind the Castelo Mountain). The small village they founded there was to become an extremely beautiful city over time and would ultimately be chosen by Marquis of Pombal as the capital of the colony in 1763, replacing Salvador. There were good reasons to transfer the capital of the colony to Rio de Janeiro. The main economic activity was no longer sugar production in the Northeast but mining in the Central and Southern regions. Mining for gold and gems had become the most important sector, and overtook the sugar industry. Rio de Janeiro had grown into a trading center for mining products. Moreover, the location of the city was strategically appropriate to defend the South of Brazil against possible Spanish attacks. Salvador had been the seat of the government for two centuries and had fulfilled its mission of preserving the property of Portugal very well. It had brought about political, social, and economic unity throughout the country. Many integrating roads passed through the sertões (interior regions) of the Northeast, North, West and Central-West regions, and originated in Salvador. Rio de Janeiro was to become the capital for another two centuries. For some years, it even became the seat of the Portuguese government and hosted the Portuguese Royal Family that had had to leave Lisbon in a hurry when Napoleon’s troops were marching across the Iberian Peninsula. So, Rio witnessed the death of “Crazy Queen” Dona Maria; it saw the crowning of Prince D. João; it accompanied the return of this Monarch to his Court in Portugal. It also contributed to the independence of Brazil, which would be proclaimed one year later. Rio applauded enthusiastically the crowning of D. Pedro I, who would choose Rio as the capital for the newborn independent nation. Rio de Janeiro got to feel the atmosphere that followed the rupture with Portugal, and became a city filled with joy when the second emperor was crowned. This capital also lived through the uncertainties of the Paraguay War, and celebrated with the blacks when the “Golden Law” (Lei Áurea under which African-Brazilian slaves were set free) was signed. In the early morning of November 15, it lived through the expectation of the fall of the monarch and awaited the origin of the republic. Rio experienced the richest period of Brazilian history. Rio was already one of the world’s biggest cities when it handed over the title of the capital to a new city in the interior of Brazil, 197 years after having become the seat of government itself. A new phase began, and so did a new destiny for Brazil.