Flight to Brazil & Albuquerque Monument

In November 1807, this square witnessed one of history's most dramatic royal escapes when Portugal's entire court fled to Brazil in a desperate attempt to avoid capture by Napoleon's invading army. Prince Regent João, his mother Queen Maria I, and approximately 15,000 nobles, officials, and servants boarded a fleet of ships from the harbour that once stood on this very spot. They carried with them the royal treasury, state archives, and the entire contents of the royal library.

The escape happened so hastily that many left their homes with only the clothes on their backs. Just three days after the fleet departed, French troops marched into the abandoned capital. The journey across the Atlantic took nearly two months, and when the court arrived in Rio de Janeiro, it became the only European capital ever established outside Europe. The Portuguese court remained in Brazil for 13 years, permanently changing the relationship between the two territories.

In 1902, this square gained its most prominent landmark: the monument to Afonso de Albuquerque. He was the 16th century admiral who built Portugal's empire in the Indian Ocean by conquering Goa in 1510, Malacca in 1511, and Hormuz in 1515. These strategic victories gave Portugal control over the lucrative spice trade routes between Europe and Asia.