Sao Luis, Brazil
Tourism

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Marechal Cunha Machado

History

The town is believed to have been founded (and named after the French national saint) by Daniel de la Touche, Seigneur de la Ravardière. It was then the chief place in France Equinoxiale, a French colony in northern Brazil. The French were expelled in 1615 by a Portuguese force under the command of Jerónimo de Albuquerque, but in 1641 the Portuguese in their turn were driven out by the Dutch, finally establishing their control over the area only three years later.