Forte do Gragoata

Forte de São Domingos de Gragoatá, also known simply as Forte do Gragoatá, is located on a rocky promontory at the end of the old São Domingos beach, the current neighborhood of Gragoatá, in the city of Niterói, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The name of the neighborhood is a reference to a plant typical of the region, the gragoatá ("Bromelia balansae"). The old São Domingos beach, a large stretch of sand that is now cut off, became known as such because of a primitive chapel built there in 1652, under the invocation of Saint Dominic, which is now the main church of São Domingos.