At Republic Square (Praça da República) is a monument to Brás Cubas. He was a 16th century Portuguese explorer who arrived in Colonial Brazil in 1531. A dozen years later, after founding a coastal village with an excellent natural seaport, he built a chapel named All Saints. Overtime, this became the name of the city (Santos means saints). Cubas was also twice appointed by King John III of Portugal as the governor of São Vicente, the region around today’s Santos.
