The National History Museum contains a collection of more than 287,000 documents, images, coins, seals, furniture, weapons, sculptures, and silverware used for the study, preservation, and dissemination of the History of Brazil.
It is located on a headland that juts out into the waters of Guanabara Bay. On this headland, the Portuguese built the Fortress of São Tiago da Misericórdia in 1603, to which they added the Calabouço Prison in 1693 – destined for offending slaves -, the ammunition depot, Casa do Trem, in 1762, the Rio de Janeiro War Arsenal in 1764, and the Barracks in 1835.
Due to its strategic location for the defense of the city, which was then the nation’s capital, the headland and its installations were maintained as a military area until 1908, when the War Arsenal was transferred to the Caju neighborhood.