just beyond the northern shore of the são gonçalo metropolitan area is an archipelago formed by the islands of mexingueira, ananases, engenho, carvalho and 'ilha das flores'.

recently carvalho and flores were embanked and fused with the coastline, forming a small peninsula which is nonetheless named 'ilha das flores'.

this was done during the construction of the br-101 highway, the main access to the region, which required such drastic works in order to provide enough space for the large lane.