The far east
Where the Americas begin.
MTur Destinos — Public domain · Matheus Jampa da Silva — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Federico Builes from Colombia — CC BY 2.0 · Kelma Cavalcante — CC BY-SA 3.0
Ponta do Seixas, at the south-eastern edge of João Pessoa, is the easternmost point of mainland Brazil and of the Americas: a beach at the foot of cliffs constantly eaten away by the waves, facing the Atlantic. The title was settled in 1941, when two navy officers measured the coordinates of this point and of Ponta de Pedras in Pernambuco and found that Seixas reaches about 1,683 metres further east. The name comes from the Seixas family, who owned land here from the 17th century. About 800 metres to the north, on the cliff top, stands the Cabo Branco Lighthouse, opened in 1972: a white triangular concrete tower with three wing-like points, meant by its designers to evoke a sisal plant, one of the longest-lasting mainstays of Paraíba's economy. For decades the lighthouse was wrongly presented as the easternmost point itself, and the area around it offers one of the finest views of the city's coast. The Estação Cabo Branco cultural centre, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, is close by, so all three can be seen in one visit.
Where the Americas begin.
Shaped like a sisal plant.
Above the Atlantic.
South of Cabo Branco beach, João Pessoa
No. The easternmost point is Ponta do Seixas, about 800 metres south of the lighthouse, though the lighthouse was long wrongly given the title.
