for this reason mem de sá, governor general of brazil, saw fit to send estácio (his nephew) on an expedition to expel the french and create a city to keep the french out.

when the portuguese force disembarked at praia de fora, they gave their settlement the epithet são sebastião do rio de janeiro - after portuguese king dom sebastião - and the first houses and churches in rio were built there. on march 1st, 1565 the city rio de janeiro was founded.