Três Corações () 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 south of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

state in

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 ...

. As of 2020, the city population was estimated at 80,032, making it one of the largest cities in the south of Minas Gerais. The city is geographically located close to the

circumcenter In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...

of the three largest metropolitan areas in Brazil ( Belo Horizonte,

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

and

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

), thus making it a strategic hub for commerce. The city is internationally famous for being the birthplace of football legend Pelé.

History

By the year 1760, the Portuguese Tomé Martins da Costa had settled on the banks of the Verde River to explore

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

. After some years he built a big farm and started the construction of the "Santíssimos Corações de Jesus, Maria e José" (Most Holy Hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph)

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

. In 1764 the

governor, D. Luiz Lobo Diogo Silva, visited Tomé M. Costa and noticed some small houses nearby. In 1790, Captain Domingos Dias de Barros, Tomé's son in law, built a bigger chapel on the site where the old one stood. It was opened to the public of Três Corações do Rio Verde and the Três Sacratíssimos Corações parish in 1832. Três Corações do Rio Verde became part of the Minas Gerais Province in 1873, after the President of the province sanctioned laws establishing that the territory was part of its civil parish. The town continued to develop civically after Emperor Pedro II and the imperial family visited it in 1884, for the inaugural of the Minas & Rio railroad. The railroad connected the town to Cruzeiro, a town in São Paulo Province. Three months following the emperor’s visit, the town was emancipated and became categorized as a city. Though formally known as Três Corações do Rio Verde, on September 7, 1923, the city became known as Três Corações. So the village has been known as Três Corações ("Three Hearts" in

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 ...

) because of the name of the chapel (hearts of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

and

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

). That is the political and official history. There are two other versions as to the origin of the city's name. One is that the path through which the river flows around the city forms the shape of three hearts. The other, more poetic version, tells the story of three cowboys, who while passing through the town from Goias, came upon three women, Jacyra, Jussara, and Moema. The women captured their attention, and the cowboys fell in love with them. The municipality is watered by the following rivers: Verde, Peixe, Palmela, Lambari, besides several streams. The great reservoir of

Furnas Furnas is a civil parish in the municipality of Povoação on the island of São Miguel in the Portuguese Azores. The population in 2011 was 1,439, in an area of 34.43 km2. The parish is one of the largest in the island and in the Azores. ...

is located to the northwest at a distance of about 40 km. The important interstate highway, the BR 381 (

Rodovia Fernão Dias The Rodovia Fernão Dias (official designation BR-381 or SP-010 in the state of São Paulo) is a federal highway which runs in the Brazilian states of São Paulo and southern region of Minas Gerais. In Atibaia, the Fernão Dias highway inter ...

) is located at a distance of 8 km.

Climate

Três Corações has a humid subtropical climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Cwa'') characterized by wet, warm summers and dry, cool winters. The average monthly precipitation is 120.97 mm (4.76 in). The wettest month is December (with an average rainfall of 272.2 mm or 10.72 in) and the driest month is July (with an average rainfall of 13.1 mm or 0.52 in). The average monthly temperature is 19.2 ºC (66.6 ºF). The hottest month is February (with a daily mean of 22.3 ºC or 72.1 ºF) and the coldest month is June (with a daily mean of 14.9 ºC or 58.8 ºF).

Economy

Cattle raising plays an important role in the economy, with both dairy and beef cattle being represented. The main agricultural products are coffee, corn, potatoes, beans, rice, and regional fruits. The main natural resource (mineral) is the São Tomé stone, which is used in civil construction. There are light industries producing toys, highway signs, fertilizers, leather, milk products, steel wheels for cars, aluminum wheels, copper wires, and animal food among others.

University

The city has one university maintained by local authorities: Universidade Vale do Rio Verde (UNINCOR), which offers courses in several areas, including dentistry.

Famous natives

Três Corações is the birthplace of football legend Pelé. Among other things there is a statue prominently placed in a plaza near downtown and a street, Rua Edson Arantes do Nascimento, named in his honour (the street was given Pelé's full birth name). Also

Carlos Luz Carlos Coimbra da Luz (; 4 August 1894 – 9 February 1961) was a Brazilian people, Brazilian Political figure, politician, lawyer, teacher and journalist who served as acting president of Brazil from November 8 to November 11, 1955. After the ...

, the 19th

president of Brazil The president of Brazil ( pt, Presidente do Brasil), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil ( pt, Presidente da República Federativa do Brasil) or simply the ''President of the Republic'', is the head of state and head o ...

and so far the shortest-serving one having held the office only for two days in 1955 before he was ousted by a

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

, was born in Três Corações.

City limits and Distances

Municipal boundaries

*North - Varginha and Carmo da Cachoeira *South - Conceição do Rio Verde and Cambuquira *East - São Bento Abade and São Tomé das Letras *West - Campanha and Monsenhor Paulo.

Distances to other cities

Varginha Varginha is a municipality in southwest Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Varginha stands out as one of the major centers of commerce and coffee production in Brazil and the world. The city is a center for export of coffee draining most of the productio ...

: 30 km * São Lourenço: 93 km *

Pouso Alegre Pouso Alegre is a municipality in southern region of Minas Gerais state, Brazil, with a population of 152,549 in 2020. The area of the municipality is 543 km². It lies in the valley of the Sapucaí River. Cities that form boundaries with Po ...

: 112 km *

Juiz de Fora Juiz de Fora (, '' Outsider Judge''), also known as J.F., is a city in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, approximately from the state border with Rio de Janeiro. According to 2020 estimates the current population is about 57 ...

: 272 km * Belo Horizonte: 287 km *

: 295 km *

: 360 km

References

External links

Três Corações City Hall website

City Brazil article on Três Corações
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tres Coracoes Municipalities in Minas Gerais Populated places established in the 1760s