The birthplace of Azorean colonization in the Greater Florianópolis region, São Miguel offers tourists a beautiful landscape, a variety of gastronomic options rich in seafood and a Portuguese-Azorean architectural complex from the colonial Brazilian era.

The construction of the Santo Antônio de Ratones Fortress began in 1740, according to the original project by Brigadier José da Silva Paes, functioning as one of the key three points of the triangular defense system of the North of Santa Catarina Island. In the eighteenth century it had two cannon batteries and armed with 14 artillery pieces.

Strategically located on the top of Ponta Grossa hill, framed by the beauty of the shores and the sand of Praia do Forte beach. The São José da Ponta Grossa Fortress is the second vertex of the defensive triangle designed by Brigadier José da Silva Paes. Its construction began in 1740. In 1765, to complete its defense on the east flank, the São Caetano Battery was built, located next to Jurerê Beach, about 200 meters from the fortress.

Santa Cruz Fortress, located on Anhatomirim Island, was the main fortification of the former defensive system of Santa Catarina Island. Designed and built by the Portuguese brigadier José da Silva Paes from 1739. The Fortress, which has Renaissance influence in its architecture, was listed in 1938 as a National Historic and Artistic Heritage. The island now receives approximately 65% of the contingent of more than 500,000 people from around the world who visit the fortresses annually.