Ilha Fiscal, or Fiscal Island, is an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

Guanabara Bay Guanabara Bay ( pt, Baía de Guanabara, ) is an oceanic bay located in Southeast Brazil in the state of Rio de Janeiro. On its western shore lie the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Duque de Caxias, and on its eastern shore the cities of Niterói and ...

, bordering the historic city center of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, in

southeastern Brazil The Southeast Region of Brazil ( pt, Região Sudeste do Brasil; ) is composed of the states of Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo State, São Paulo. It is the richest region of the country, responsi ...

. Originally named by Europeans as Rat Island (), its current name comes from the fact that the customs department has been stationed there before

Guarda Fiscal , mottotranslated = For the Motherland and for the Law , formedyear = 1885 , formedmonthday = September 17 , preceding1 = Barrier guards ({{italic correction, {{lang, pt, Guardas barreiras ) , dissolved = 1993 , superseding ...

, serving the port of the then-capital of the Empire during the nineteenth century. The customs offices were housed at a

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

palace built under Pedro II, which occupies most of the island. The island became famous as the site of the famous Fiscal Island Ball (), the last royal ball of the Empire before the coup d'état that proclaimed the Republic in November 1889.

History

'' The New York Times'''

Marlise Simons Marlise Simons is a Dutch-born journalist who joined ''The New York Times'' in 1982. She has been based in Paris since 1989, covering a range of subjects across Europe and elsewhere. Most recently she has focused on international human rights law ...

considers the former-Customs House a "preposterous neo-Gothic edifice of green turrets." During the Fiscal Island Ball (), held on 9 November 1889 and considered "the last ball of the Empire,"

Afonso Celso, Viscount of Ouro Preto Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo, the Viscount of Ouro Preto (2 February 1836 – 21 February 1912) was a Brazilian politician, and the last Prime Minister of the Empire of Brazil. Biography Personal life Afonso Celso was born in Ouro Preto, ...

, Deodato Cesino Vilella dos Santos, and

Saldanha da Gama Luís Filipe de Saldanha da Gama (7 April 1846 – 24 June 1895) was an admiral of the Brazilian Navy. He led the Revolta da Armada against the First Brazilian Republic alongside Custódio José de Melo and was killed by government forces during ...

were members of the reception committee. The ball was in honor of a visiting Chilean delegation of naval men, with an alleged attendance of six thousand guests. An often-legend states that after the ball 8 bodices, 17 silk pillows, 3 corsets, 17 garters and 9

epaulets Epaulette (; also spelled epaulet) is a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia of rank by armed forces and other organizations. Flexible metal epaulettes (usually made from brass) are referred to as ''shoulder scales'' ...

. During the

Revolt of the Lash The Revolt of the Lash ( pt, Revolta da Chibata, link=no) was a naval mutiny in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in late November 1910. It was the direct result of the use of whips ("lashes") by white naval officers when punishing Afro-Brazilian and mixe ...

, on 23 November 1910, the Brazilian battleship ''São Paulo'' was located off the island and headed out of the bay unscathed. painted ''The Last Dance of Ilha Fiscal'' (), based on the 1889 ball, in 1905. Since 1914, the Navy's Directorate of Hydrography and Navigation () has been based on Ilha Fiscal. After the Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo, the Directorate was the second institution in Brazil to carry out oceanographic research. Monica Hirst argumented before the meeting that resulted in the 1994

Protocol of Ouro Preto The 1994 Protocol of Ouro Preto was the continuation of economic policies setting up a customs union, as set forth four years earlier in the Treaty of Asunción by the four original Mercosur Sovereign state, states. (Consisting of Argentina, Brazi ...

that it should not be compared to the Ilha Fiscal Ball. In 2002, b34usinessman Alexandre Accioly celebrated his 40th birthday at Ilha Fiscal. As part of the 2005

Rio Fashion Week Rio Fashion Week (RFW) is a fashion week biannually held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and ...

, designer Clara Vasconcelos showcased the Tessuti 2006 summer collection runway show held on a runway with 150 seat capacity in the form of an "A". During the

Mensalão scandal The Mensalão scandal ( pt, Escândalo do Mensalão, ) was a major parliamentary vote-buying scandal by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's administration that threatened to bring down his government in 2005. ''Mensalão'' is a neologism, a variant of ...

, presidential advisor Ricardo Kotscho made a public statement which ''

Folha de S.Paulo ''Folha de S.Paulo'' (sometimes spelled ''Folha de São Paulo''), also known as simply ''Folha'' (, ''Sheet''), is a Brazilian daily newspaper founded in 1921 under the name ''Folha da Noite'' and published in São Paulo by the Folha da Manhã c ...

'' journalist compared to the infamous ball, "where the court danced while the monarchy collapsed." Ilha Fiscal now hosts a museum of cultural history housed in the that is maintained by the

Navy of Brazil ) , colors= Blue and white , colors_label= Colors , march= "Cisne Branco" ( en, "White Swan") (same name as training ship ''Cisne Branco'' , mascot= , equipment= 1 multipurpose aircraft carrier7 submarines6 frigates2 corvettes4 amphibious warfar ...

. Boat and land tours depart the nearby and travel to and around Ilha Fiscal.

Notes

References

External links

{{Sister project links, auto=yes
3-D model of the Ilha Fiscal Custom House
Atlantic islands of Brazil Balls (dance party) Castles in Brazil Custom houses Entertainment events in Brazil Entertainment venues in Brazil Events in Rio de Janeiro (city) Geography of Rio de Janeiro (city) Gothic Revival architecture in Brazil Government buildings completed in 1889 Government buildings in Brazil Guanabara Bay Historical events in Brazil Landforms of Rio de Janeiro (state) Military installations of Brazil Military and war museums in Brazil Museums in Rio de Janeiro (city) November 1889 events Pedro II of Brazil Towers in Brazil

History

See also

Notes

References

External links