next to the easily identifiable morro do macaco, morro do pico sits just across the mouth of guanabara bay from morro cara de cão and sugar loaf. besides being an excellent viewing point for the surrounding area, the hill is well-known because of the fort located on top.

with a height of some 230 meters above sea level, morro do pico has been used strategically since the first portuguese settlement in rio in the 1560s, though only as an observation post during this time. two centuries later, the first fortifications were built here under viceroy luís almeida of portugal, and the stronghold was called forte são luís.