Rio is a city of 6,0 million inhabitants, in a metropolitan area of about 11,0 million. It is Brazil’s best kown visit card and Copacabana is a worldwide well recognised identity mark. Since the 1920s it is a top tourism destination, associated with good music, relaxed life, Brazilian hospitality and football. Since the 1980s it has been more and more associated with poverty, favelas, violence and drug traffic.
* * * * *
But Rio is a lot more than that, and it might be useful for those visiting the city to know a few facts about it. From 1763 to 1960 it was the capital city of the Portuguese colony, the United Kindgdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarve, the Brazilian Monarchy and the Brazilian Republic. There are many historical places that can be visited and that are of particular interest for those that like History.
* * * * *
At the end of 1807 the Portuguese royal family fled the Napoleonic invasion and transferred the whole court to Rio, where they arrived in 1808. This was the first time ever that a ruling European monarch visited a colony; it was the only time in History that an American city was the capital of an European Kingdom (from 1808 to 1821). It had a big impact in the development of both the city itself and Brazil in general.
* * * * *
From 1808 to 1889 there was always a member of either the Portuguese Royal Family or the Brazilian Imperial Family residing there; in 1822 Brazil became independent of Portugal as an Empire, ruled by an Emperor, Pedro I, that was also heir to the Portuguese Kingdom (later Pedro IV of Portugal). Apart from the former British colonies that became independent but continued to have the English monarch as their head of state, it was one of the only three monarchies in the Americas, by far the longest living one (67 years, compared with 3 years in Mexico and 10 years in Haiti).
* * * * *
During the XVIII century the discovery of gold in Minas Gerais resulted in an upsurge of ecnonomic activity in the southeast. Rio’s port became the most important one in the Americas for the slave trade. It is estimated that 700.000 Africans officialy entered the colony through this port; about the same amount of people were brought in unofficially. Rio is a key place in understanding the development of forced work and African heritage in Brazil.
* * * * *
Rio was the biggest Brazilian city for 150 years (1800 to 1950); it was the political, economic and cultural center for most of that time; it was overtaken by São Paulo in economic importance during the XX century and in population by 1960. In cultural terms it is disputed whether and when it happened. Since the capital was transferred to Brasilia in 1960 it was in a long, soft and inexorable decline. It was a madness that the country let its best visit card go down for half a century.
* * * * *
Now, since it was chosen to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, things started to change. 40 billion reais were invested in the city and it is in a better shape than at any other moment in at least 40 years. You can read more about these improvements in the next posts.
Wish you enjoy the rest of the week,
Maurício
No comments:
Post a Comment