Alter do Chão is one of the administrative districts of the city of Santarém, in

Pará Pará is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian state) ...

state located on the right bank of the

Tapajós The Tapajós ( pt, Rio Tapajós ) is a river in Brazil. It runs through the Amazon Rainforest and is a major tributary of the Amazon River. When combined with the Juruena River, the Tapajós is approximately long. It is one of the largest clearw ...

. The distance to the city center about 37 kilometres across the highway Everaldo Martins (PA-457). It is the main tourist spot of Santarém, it houses the most beautiful freshwater beach in the world according to the British newspaper ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', and is popularly known as the Brazilian Caribbean.

Etymology

The name is a tribute to the Portuguese town of Alter do Chão.

History

Founded on March 6, 1626, by Portuguese

Pedro Teixeira Pedro Teixeira (b.1570-1585 - d.4 July 1641), occasionally referred to as the Conqueror of the Amazon, was a Portugal, Portuguese Exploration, explorer and military officer, who became, in 1637, the first European to travel up and down the entire ...

, it was elevated to a town by

Francisco Xavier de Mendonça Furtado Francisco Xavier de Mendonça Furtado (1701–1769) served in Portugal's armed services rising in rank from soldier to sea-captain, then became a colonial governor in Brazil and finally a secretary of state in the Portuguese government. His major ...

, governor of the

State of Grão-Pará and Maranhão The State of Grão-Pará and Maranhão ( pt, Estado do Grão-Pará e Maranhão) was one of the states of the Portuguese Empire. History The state was created on 31 July 1751 by order of Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pomb ...

, during

Colonial Brazil Colonial Brazil ( pt, Brasil Colonial) comprises the period from 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to a kingdom in union with Portugal as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Durin ...

, on March 6, 1758. Alter do Chão, during the 17th century and 18th century, received several religious missions, led by the Jesuits of the Franciscan order. The cult of Our Lady of Remedies was established. This became the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of this holy place. Until the 18th century, the village was inhabited mostly by indigenous communities Boraris. It still has traces of the natives because of the existence of several sites with many pottery shards, pipes, and polished stone axes. In the early 20th century, Alter do Chao was one of the transportation routes of latex extracted from rubber trees Belterra and Fordlandia. It was a short period of development for the town. In the 1950s the decay of Amazonian extraction began, and the village was hit by the economic deficit. From the 1990s to the present day, the district focuses on tourism to evolve economically, which has achieved good results.

Tourism

Tourism in Alter do Chão is more appropriate from August to December. When the waters subside, one can visit the freshwater beaches.

Sairé Festival

Sairé is the most traditional popular festival in the

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...

. The Festa do Sairé in Alter do Chão, mixes Catholic religious elements with expressions of local culture for locals and tourists. It is held every September. There are processions, Caiibó groups, and dramatizations of Amazonian legends, such as the legend of the boto. Finally, there is an amusing dispute between the Cor de Rosa and Tucuxi dolphins, groups with allegories, songs and costumes, such as the samba schools. The Festival dos Botos was incorporated into Sairé in the 1970s and resembles the Festival dos Bois de Parintins (AM).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alter do Chao, Para Populated places in Pará