One privileged testimony for more than four centuries, situated at the meeting (junction) of the river Potengi with the Atlantic Ocean, follows with pride its city. It is the Fortaleza dos Reis Magos, monument symbol of Natal and its first construction, that was started on 06 of January of 1598, almost two years before the foundation of the city, that happened on 25 of December of 1599. Those who visit the Fortaleza listen to its guides informing that the construction was delayed thirty years before it was ready and that the rocks in its immense walls had been made with mortar the based on whale oil.

The Fortaleza has the form of a star with five tips and its architectural project was elaborated in the cut of Portugal. It had the objective to consolidate the Portuguese domain in its new colony, trying to prevent the siege of the French and Dutch; these last ones, who during some years had occupied the northeast coast and had started to call the small town that appeared - New Amsterdam.

The tourist who visits our largest monument receives a folder, with the following information, established in the book History of the Fortaleza of the Bar of the Great River, by the writer Helium Galvão: The squadron of Manoel Mascarenhas, the man who was responsible for its construction, fulfilling the royal letters of Philip II of Spain and I of Portugal, respectively of 09 November of 1596 and 15 November of 1597. Brazil at the time was governed for D. Francisco de Souza. The project of the Fortaleza was elaborated by the architect and engineer Padre Caspar de Semperes. Later it would absorb traces of a reform lead by the engineer-mor Francisco de Frias of Mesquita, initiated in 1614 and concluded in 1628.

Associated with the colonial fights, it later fortified the Portuguese in their combat with the French and in the fight against the Dutch who in it were established for 21 years, from 1633 thru 1654. During the Dutch domain the fort was called Keullen Castle. Control of the fort was assumed by the Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional, on 15 of January of 1949, as it is one of the cultural patrimonies of Rio Grande do Norte, managed by the Foundation Jose Augusto.

For the fact of having received the mission to raise the Fortaleza Dos Reis Magos, also Manoel Mascarenhas Homem, earned the title of founder of the city (some historians defend the name of Jerônimo de Albuquerque Maranhão). By the way, the foundation of a city was, necessarily, one of the incubencies that were attributed to Mascarenhas Homem, as general of the conquest, who was there to make both a Fortaleza and a population.

Also as witness followed that the bashful population of twelve straw houses, was transformed into a beautiful, modern and young city, also known as City of the Sun for the amenable tropical climate, with average temperature of 26 degrees, the same as the waters of its beaches, and for its air, that one day was appointed as purest of the Americas.

The fort also followed the slow rhythm growth during the 18th and 19th centuries and when Natal grew and lost its village air of a city with less than 50 thousand inhabitants and it was chosen to receive an North American air base, during the II World War, this international decision was basic for the victory of the allies. After all, it is the point closest to Dakar, in Africa, allowing air raids considered strategical to their arrival in Europe.

Today, Natal has in the Fortaleza dos Reis Magos an advanced sentry for tourism. Control point for those who visit, it recounts history and offers a vision of the meeting of the river with the sea, from one of the tips of its star, and to offer, in another tip, the city that extends into the dunes of Tirol, Petrópolis and the Potengi.

Service: The access to the Fortaleza is daily, from 08h to 16h, and there is a small charge for visitation. It does not have a bus line arriving there. Those who desire to use the public bus system must have access through the line for Brasília Teimosa. From there, by foot, a little more than 1,5 kilometer until you arrive at a small square with parking for tourist buses and automobiles. An walkway, over the rocks, but paved, takes you to the monument.