Flanked on three sides by wide stretches of shallow water, the Ilha de São Luís is an ideal point for ships to weigh anchor. Out of this simple geography grew a thriving colonial port city, so well known for the activities of its intelligentsia that it was nicknamed "Athens". But while the industrial revolution breathed new life into many cities, São Luís lagged behind. Huge tidal bores have long complicated attempts to develop and modernize its port facilities. Since independence many dreamers have sought to revive São Luís' fortunes, but with a lack of natural resources or road connections to other cities, and with port development halted by the bores, it has continued to stagnate. For the Brazilian Athens to be rebuilt, Brazil may need to challenge Poseidon herself.