First off a bit of a warning, Copacabana Fort isn't part of this proposal, more on that later.

This is a proposal that encompasses a large array of forts around Brazil though mostly on the Atlantic coast, built by Europeans in the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. My attempted visits focused on three around Rio de Janeiro, and it seems not all of them are part of the proposal.

Attempt one: Santa Cruz da Barra Fort

Well the focus of this little side trip wasn't really to get inside the fort in Niteroi, rather it was to cruise across Guanabara Bay and visit the town’s iconic MAC art gallery. This was well worth the trip, even though the gallery itself wasn't open. The sailing across the harbour gave us the closest view of landing planes we are ever likely to have and the gallery enabled us to see one of Oscar Niemeyer's defining works. From underneath its Flying Saucer like bulk you actually get a good view of the two forts at the entrance to the bay.

In regards to the actual nominated fort, it is quite a long journey from the ferry port and it is a functioning military base so we didn't really want to spend several hours on public transport getting to a locked gate, we only had a short stay in Rio and this didn't look like the best use of our time.
The ferry affords another perspective of the mouth of the bay and from a distance you can again clearly pick out the two forts opposite each other getting a good sense of their defensive role.

Military page with detail of arranging a visit

Attempt Two: São João Fort

On our second night staying in the very recommended area of Botafogo, we decided to stroll through to the neighbourhood of Urca. Situated underneath Sugarloaf Mountain, this lovely relaxed area is home to some nice waterfront bars offering views up the harbour to the city centre and especially of the planes circling to land at Santos Dumont airport.

We strolled up to the entrance to the fort and quickly realised this too was a functioning military base, so wasn't really open to two tourists wanting a stroll around at dusk. A quick skip up some side stairs in a hope of seeing something of the fortifications only led to a rather blank wall. Even peering over the edge from the sea wall didn't really reveal much to us, the fortifications mostly pointing out towards the entrance to the bay
(The photo gives an idea of what you can see from outside in Urca, namely that green headland in the centre of the picture, not really much in the way of military defences on display). 

It seems if you do want to visit you have to phone the military public relations office and arrange a tour, how simple this process is I'm not sure.

Hey ho, we had to make do with a waterside picnic as the sun set on one of the world's most unique and iconic cityscapes, it's a tough life sometimes.

Visits need to be prearranged as of 2018 this seems to be the schedule Mon-Fri 09:00-16:00 Sat 09:00-12:00. Full details on the military visit page here.

Attempt Three: Copacabana Fort (Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!)

The whole time I wasn't really that worried about my failed visits as I had seen that Copacabana Fort was open to visitors and could provide a suitable focus to an afternoon trip to Rio's famous beaches. As it was we had a rather enjoyable visit, with some lunch at the pleasant cafe overlooking the eponymous beach and Sugarloaf mountain. There was plenty of military hardware on hand and a museum, but the main points of interest to us were the views.

Alas, when I got back home and started mapping the Tentative List it turns out that Copacabana Fort isn't part of the proposal! It seems the nominated forts were all built by European Colonial regimes (mostly Portuguese) and that is what the focus of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) is: European attempts to shape Brazilian defences in their own image. However because Copacabana wasn't really opened up until the 1800's the fort there was built by the Brazilian government so isn't included.

So I can't really talk about the OUV of the sites as the one I visited in detail doesn't represent the main concepts. If this site is inscribed I'm not really sure if I will count it as a visit, I'm not fully convinced I would have entered into the core zone, however I did feel I got a good view of the fortifications from the sea and I stood at the entrance of one of them, but it will probably be a frustrating “close but no cigar”.

My main points:

-If you want to visit the two nominated forts in and around Rio you will need to arrange a guided tour in advance as they are both in active military use.

-A visit to Niteroi's MAC gallery and the ferry crossing from Rio gives a good, though somewhat distant view of the two forts guarding Guanabara bay.

-You can get a very good view of the setting of the two proposed forts from the base of Christ the Redeemer (see photo: Santa Cruz da Barra Fort at the top, whilst most of São João Fort is hidden by the green headland in the centre of the photo)

- Copacabana fort isn't part of this proposal, however it is worth a visit for the impressive views it gives of the eponymous beach, back to Sugarloaf Mountain.

Site ? (probably around about a 3) : Experience 6