Recent archaeological investigations discovered pre-colonial archaeological sites called “concheiros”, “shelters on rocks” and “indigenous villages”.
The first inhabitants of the archipelago were indigenous people who did not master agriculture or ceramic production, surviving on fishing, and what they found in nature, especially marine animals.
In the year 1502, the first Portuguese exploratory expedition, commanded by the navigator Gonçalo Coelho and bringing on board the Italian cosmographer Américo Vespúcio, found a large island that was called by the Tuois de Maembipe (“place of merchandise exchange and rescue of prisoners").
The island was baptized with the name of the saint of the day, thus receiving the name of São Sebastião. It is said that the natives call it Ciribaí ("quiet place").
The Portuguese Francisco de Escobar Ortiz was the first settler on the island of São Sebastião, who obtained one hundred leagues of land for himself from Pedro Lopes de Sousa, donator of the captaincy.
In the year 1608, other inhabitants arrived and settled on both sides of the São Sebastião Canal.
On March 16, the Villa de São Sebastião would be created, which was politically and administratively dismembered from the Villa de Porto de Santos.
At the beginning of the 19th century, when the Island of São Sebastião had around three thousand inhabitants, its main town was called “Capela de Nossa Senhora D´ajuda e Bom Sucesso”. By indication of the ruler Antonio José da Franca e Horta on 3 The villa would be named “Vila Bela da Princesa” in honor of the princess of Beira on September 1805. Vila Bela da Princesa was officially installed on January 23, 1806.
In 1934, the São Paulo government carried out a restructuring in the territorial division of the State, extinguished 18 small municipalities, including Vila Bela da Princesa (whose name had already changed to Vila Bela), which reintegrated the territory of São Sebastião.
Due to the imposition of the dictatorial government of Getúlio Vargas, Vila Bela changed its name in 1939 to Formosa.
The residents were against the new name, and in the year 1944, the state government changed the name of the municipality to Ilhabela.
See more about how to get to Ilhabela
See also information on São Paulo.
