Penedo is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the state of

Alagoas Alagoas (, ) is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil and is situated in the eastern part of the Northeast Region. It borders: Pernambuco (N and NW); Sergipe (S); Bahia (SW); and the Atlantic Ocean (E). Its capital is the city of Maceió. It ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. The population is 63,846 (2020 est.) in an area of . Penedo lies south-west of the state capital of

Maceió Maceió (), formerly sometimes Anglicised as Maceio, is the capital and the largest city of the coastal state of Alagoas, Brazil. The name "Maceió" is an Indigenous term for a spring. Most maceiós flow to the sea, but some get trapped and form la ...

. In October 2023, Penedo joined the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Creative Cities Network The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is a project of UNESCO launched in 2004 to promote cooperation among cities which recognized creativity as a major factor in their urban development.City of Film UNESCO's City of Film project is part of the wider Creative Cities Network. Film is one of seven creative fields in the Network, the others: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts, and Music. Criteria for UNESCO Cities o ...

History

Founded in 1614, Penedo has many important examples of

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

and

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

colonial

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

s. The history of Penedo can be found in Francisco Alberto Sales's book ''Arruando para o Forte''. It was reached by sea from the wide estuary of the

São Francisco River The São Francisco River (, ) is a large river in Brazil. With a length of , it is the longest river that runs entirely in Brazilian territory, and the fourth longest in South America and overall in Brazil (after the Amazon, the Paraná and t ...

. The unclassified extinct

Wakoná language Wakoná (Aconã) is an extinct and unattested, presumed language of eastern Brazil. The dispersed ethnic population numbered an estimated 500 to 1,000 in 1995. Wakoná was originally spoken around Lagoa Comprida and in Penedo. Loukotka (1968) re ...

was formerly spoken in Penedo. Loukotka (1968) reported that the remaining ethnic descendants who speak only Portuguese could be found in the city of

Porto Real do Colégio Porto Real do Colégio is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Alagoas. Former indigenous languages The unclassified extinct Wakoná language was formerly spoken in Penedo. Loukotka (1968) reported that the remaining ethnic descendants ...

Architectural heritage

Among its historically significant buildings are its well preserved churches, which were built through the 18th century. Some of these include: * Convento de São Francisco e Igreja de Nossa Senhora dos Anjos
(''Convent of Saint Francis and Church of Our Lady of the Angels'') * Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Corrente
(''Church of Our Lady of the Chains'') * Catedral de Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos, Cathedral of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Penedo The Roman Catholic Diocese of Penedo ( la, Dioecesis Penedensis) is a diocese located in the city of Penedo in the Ecclesiastical province of Maceió in Brazil. History * April 3, 1916: Established as Diocese of Penedo from the Diocese of Alagô ...

.
(''Cathedral of Our Lady of the Black People's Rosary'') The

Casa do Penedo Casa do Penedo (Portuguese for ''Stone House'' or ''House of the Rock'') is an architectural monument located between Celorico de Basto and Fafe, in northern Portugal. It received its name because it was built from four large boulders that serve ...

, built in 1974, has as its objective the preservation of the city's artistic and cultural patrimony. In the Casa do Penedo one can find a rich quantity of five centuries of creativity by residents of the

Valley.

In literature

Penedo is the location in ''

The Far Side of the World ''The Far Side of the World'' is the tenth historical novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1984. The story is set during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. The story from ''Treason's Harbour'' has se ...

'', a novel by Patrick O'Brian set in the era when both the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

and the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

were underway, where HMS ''Surprise'' pulls in for repairs. The ship stays longer than expected when she gets stuck in the river due to its rapidly changing tides.

References

Municipalities in Alagoas Populated places established in 1614 1614 establishments in South America 1614 establishments in the Portuguese Empire {{Alagoas-geo-stub

History

Architectural heritage

In literature

See also

References