Florianópolis: the island of forty beaches

The Hercilio Luz Bridge, a suspension bridge completed in 1926 and among the largest of its kind at the time of construction, remains today a city symbol illuminated every evening, although closed to vehicular traffic since the nineteen-eighties.

The historic center, around the Metropolitan Cathedral, preserves public markets and colonial houses built by Portuguese immigrants from the Azores starting in the eighteenth century.

The Conceição Lagoon, a brackish lagoon surrounded by dunes and restaurants, hosts kitesurfing schools and stand-up paddle stands usable year-round thanks to constant coastal winds.

The Santa Cruz Fortress, an eighteenth-century Portuguese fortification on the island of Anhatomirim, is reached by boat and preserves the original walls and cannons defending the entrance channel to the bay.

The Hercílio Luz bridge, closed to traffic for decades but still lit every night, shows how a city symbol can survive its original function.

The more than forty beaches of the island, each with its own microclimate and clientele, remind instead that Florianópolis has never been a single destination, but a sum of different destinations.