Vila Império ( ;

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

: ''Imperial Village''), officially known as the Bairro Vila Império (

: ''Neighborhood of Vila Império'') is a urbanized

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

(''

bairro A ''bairro'' () is a Portuguese language, Portuguese word for a Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter or a neighborhood or, sometimes, a district which is within a city or town. It is commonly used in Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, ...

'') in the

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian

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

Governador Valadares Governador Valadares is a Brazilian municipality in the countryside of Minas Gerais. In 2020, its population was 281,046 inhabitants, thus being the ninth most populated city in the state. It is an economical axis of the middle valley of the Doce ...

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

, Brazil. This neighborhood is located on the western side of Governador Valadares, with Avenida Pecuarista Carlos Machado Rangel and Rua Crisolino Ferreira da Costa as the neighborhood's main thoroughfares and Rua Joaquim Pereira Duarte as its largest street. Vila Império is located on what is called Region XVII in Governador Valadares, shared with a large group of other neighborhoods across the western half of the city. Vila Império and the region in which it is in across the

Doce River The Doce River ( , "Sweet River") is a river in southeast Brazil with a length of . The river basin is economically important. In 2015, the collapse of a dam released highly contaminated water from mining into the river, causing an ecological d ...

, was once inhabited by Borun Indians, whose communities have diminished overtime. The neighborhood along with a tiny portion of smaller adjacent neighborhood, Castanheiras are home to ''Memorial Park Cemitério Jardim'' (

: Cemetery Garden Memorial Park) a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

park in the southern portion of it which is the neighborhood's primary attraction. Vila Império is also home to several shops and borders the municipality's airport,

Governador Valadares Airport Coronel Altino Machado de Oliveira Airport is the airport serving the city of Governador Valadares, Brazil. It is operated by Infraero. History On December 12, 2023 the airport started being operated by Infraero. Airlines and destinations ...

History

Colonization of the region

The

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

of the neighborhood of Vila Império had been inhabited by

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

people for a estimated 10,000 years, and records from the first explorers of the region after the "

discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

" of

in 1500 indicate that they were still numerous at that time. The exploration of the area began in the 16th century, in expeditions such as that of Sebastião Fernandes Tourinho, who followed the course of the

in search of precious metals on its banks. Tourinho followed the reverse path of the Doce River until he reached the Santo Antônio River. However, settlement of the region was prohibited at the beginning of the 17th century in order to prevent smuggling of gold extracted in the Diamantina region. The settlement was liberated in 1755 and to guarantee the safety of settlers and traders who sailed along the Doce River, barracks were set up to monitor the Borun. Boruns were the indigenous people who inhabited the Doce River valley (called ''Watu'' by them) and its tributary, the Piracicaba River, in the region where municipalities such as

Ipatinga Ipatinga is a Municipalities of Brazil, Brazilian municipality located in the interior of the Federative units of Brazil, state of Minas Gerais, in the Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeast Region of Brazil. Situated in the Vale do Rio Doce (meso ...

, Timóteo,

Jaguaraçu Jaguaraçu is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais in the Southeast region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Minas Gerais This is a list of the municipalities in the States of Brazil, state of Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais (MG), ...

and

Marliéria Marliéria is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the states of Brazil, state of Minas Gerais in the Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeast region of Brazil. The municipality contains part of the Rio Doce State Park, created in 1944, the fir ...

are located today.

Foundation

While there are no records or information on the exact foundation of the neighborhood. It was most likely founded in the 1940s or 50s during the early developments of the municipality.

Name

The name "Vila Império" translates to "Imperial Village" in Portuguese. Formerly, in

Roman times In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman civilisation from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingd ...

and then in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the term "Vila" (Meaning "village") had the connotation of country or solar residence as it is still today. The term's variant "

Villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...

" is also used in the Spanish, Italian, French, German and Norwegian languages. The second term "Império" (meaning "Empire") and originating from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word "imperium" is a connotation of something relevant, important or with great grandeur.

Geography

Borders

The neighborhood of Vila Império has a total area of 0.3 km² and is bordered by other smaller neighborhoods such as São Cristóvão (

Saint Christopher Saint Christopher (, , ; ) is venerated by several Christian denominations. According to these traditions, he was a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman Empire, Roman emperor Decius (), or alternatively under the emperor Maximin ...

) which takes up most of its eastern border along the streets of Rua Joaquim Pereira Duarte, Rua B, Rua C etc. However, in its west the neighborhood, Castanheiras (Chestnut trees) has the neighborhoods largest border which interlocks at the Cemetery Garden Memorial Park shared between the two. Lastly the neighborhood shares its northern border with the neighborhood of Sagrada Familia (

Holy Family The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The subject became popular in art from the 1490s on,Ainsworth, 122 but veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de La ...

) which enters the neighborhood via Rua Joaquim Pereira Duarte.

Roads

Vila Império consists of 24 roads shared between it and other neighborhoods and other roads that are located already inside the neighborhood, these roads are the ones which form and created the urbanization of the neighborhood. The neighborhood can be accessed by the roads: Rua Joaquim Pereira Duarte in the north, Avenida Getúlio Vargas in the southeast and Avenida Pecuarista Carlos Machado Rangel in between the west and the east parts of the neighborhood.

Terrain

Vila Império constitutes the only green area of the inner parts of the municipality of Governador Valadares. This specific area is found at the Cemetery Garden Memorial Park shared between Vila Império and the neighborhood of Castanheiras.

Climate

The

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

of the municipality, neighborhood and the overall area is primarily hot "semi-humid"

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

, with an average annual temperature of 24°C and average rainfall of 990 mm/year, concentrated between the months of October and March. The rainy season comprises the hottest months, while the dry season encompasses the warmer months. autumn and spring. Precipitation falls mainly in the form of

rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...

and sporadically,

hail Hail is a form of solid Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailsto ...

, which may also be accompanied by electrical discharges, large blackouts, and strong wind gusts.

Rua Joaquim Pereira Duarte confusions

Rua Joaquim Pereira Duarte (English: Joaquim Pereira Duarte Road) formally known as Rua A (A Street) is the Vila Império's largest and most populous road out of all the 24 roads within the neighborhood. The road consists of four non-adjacent and unconnected sides, a rare

phenomenon A phenomenon ( phenomena), sometimes spelled phaenomenon, is an observable Event (philosophy), event. The term came into its modern Philosophy, philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be ...

in geography especially for roads internationally. The first side of the road is more urbanized as it houses a large condominium which dominates the entire part. The other part however is even more populated and more urbanized. The other two parts however are small, with around one to ten homes within them while being fully separated from the two mainland parts of the road.

Urbanized/border part

The primary and most known part of the Rua Joaquim Pereira Duarte is the part of it as it borders the São Cristóvão neighborhood. This part of the road is the main section of it used to show the road on maps, such as when it is accessed upon in

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...

. This section is also home to nearly 300 homes, having a church and several shops within which fully contribute to the urbanization of the neighborhood of which the road is in, the Vila Império.

Happenings

2010s

2019 water problems

On the day 13 June 2019, a re-establishment and repairing of the waters of the municipality of Governador Valadares conducted by the SAAE (''Serviço Autônomo de Água e Esgoto'') created an interruption and affected the water being transferred across to over 100 neighborhoods of the city including the Vila Império.

2020s

2020 Rua D fire

On 14 October 2020, a fire started in the basement of one of the houses in the neighborhood's street, Rua D. The fire department of the municipality was called towards the situation and conveyed that no one was injured in it, which was televised statewide by

TV Globo Minas TV Globo Minas (channel 12) is a Brazilian television station based in Belo Horizonte, capital of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, carrying the signal of TV Globo for most of the state of Minas Gerais. Owned-and-operated by Grupo Globo, its stud ...

. It was also later conveyed to police by witnesses that the fire was started by the owner of the home himself which was investigated by the Policia Civil (Civil Police).

2023 electrical problems

Between 4 and 5 May 2023, the neighborhood next to Vila Império, Castanheiras, suffered through an interruption of electrical energy across itself which spread into some Vila-Impériense parts. The interruption was later confirmed to have been caused by a repairment process made by CEMIG, the state of Minas Gerais' organized energy company.

2024 water problems

On 14 May 2024, water problems were reported across 11 neighborhoods of the municipality of

, including the Vila Império. The problems primarily only affected the city for around a day before emergency services were put together in order to resume water services. Another subsequent water problem also occurred in the neighborhood after a breaking of a

water main A water distribution system is a part of water supply network with components that carry potable water from a centralized treatment plant or wells to consumers to satisfy residential, commercial, industrial and fire fighting requirements. Defi ...

in the São Paulo (

Saint Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

) neighborhood, affecting the water distribution of 25 neighborhoods. Following the breaking the business responsible for the waters of the city, AEGEA Saneamento, responded by sending groups of workers towards the location of where the breaking occurred in order to fix the problem within 1–2 days.

31 May 2024 blackout

On 31 May 2024, a power outage caused by the falling of an energy post during a

car accident A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. T ...

in the neighborhood of Castanheiras affected the thousands of residents of the area between Vila Império, Castanheiras and adjacent São Cristóvão, leading to energy blackouts for the consumers in the neighborhoods. The power only managed to come back around two days later when several workers came to fix the area in order for the neighborhoods to regain electricity.

Crime and police

The Vila Império has an overall rising history in terms of crime with the crime rate growing in recent years. Most of the crimes being of robberies of which were usually handled by the Policia Militar and rarely the Civil Police of Governador Valadares, both of which are scattered across the city and have several headquarters which serve the neighborhoods included the Vila Império.

Notorious crimes

2021 home robbery

A notorious robbery occurred on 13 January 2021 when a 36-year-old man robbed a home in the Vila Império, stealing over $300

Brazilian real The Brazilian real (plural, pl. '; currency symbol, sign: R$; ISO 4217, code: BRL) is the official currency of Brazil. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. The Central Bank of Brazil is the central bank and the issuing authority. The real repl ...

s, pieces of

jewelry Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...

and a

phone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

. The man also threatened and tied the home owners in order to succeed in his robbery, which he did. Afterwards he went through the train route between Governador Valadares and Belo Horizonte and was caught the Estação Ferroviária de Antônio Dias by the police force of Antônio Dias.

2024 delivery robbery

Another significant robbery happened on 12 June 2024 when a group of robbers assaulted a delivery person, stealing a portion of food along with the persons' phone and

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

. The robbers then fled before the restaurant where the person worked at could along with the Policia Militar stations in the city, work towards catching them and retrieving the lost resources.

Police stations

While the municipality of Governador Valadares offers a range of police services and stations primarily controlled by the 6th battalion Policial Militar of Governador Valadares and the ''Quinto Companhia Independente'', the Vila Império itself has two primary stations which offer services to it nearby. The nearest police station one is in Jardim Pérola (Garden of Pearls), a small neighborhood near to the Vila Império itself and of which offers 24 hour services to the region. Another nearby one governed by the Federal Police of Brazil is located in the Distrito Industrial (Industrial District) neighborhood, not far from the Vila Império.

Post offices and CEP codes

The Vila Império is located on several CEP ( ZIP) codes which change for each street that the neighborhood currently has registered with its CEP codes. The codes may differ if the road is shared between two neighborhoods or enters the scope of another one. Also, there are only a selective amount of post offices in the municipality. The closest one to the neighborhood being "CEE Correios Governador Valadares" (EEC Post Governador Valadares).

Vila Império CEP codes

* Rua Joaquim Pereira Duarte/Rua A: 35050-560 * Rua B: 35050-790 * Rua C: 35050-580 * Rua D: 35050-590 * Rua Edgard Fernandes/Rua Dois: 35050-600 * Rua Professor Cid Pitanga: 35050-610

Roads

* Rua Joaquim Pereira Duarte (Former Rua A, largest road in the neighborhood; has 4 parts to it) * Rua Edgard Fernandes * Rua Milwald Alves de Lima * Avenida Pecuarista Carlos Machado Rangel * Rua 7 * Rua Tenente Gil Pereira * Rua Oicilef Guerra * Rua Walter Vilela * Rua Sergio Murta de Andrade * Rua Crisolino Ferreira da Costa * Rua Marcondes Tedesco * Rua Olane Tavares Pereira * Rua Dr. Ruy Debiase * Rua N * Rua Diacono Gilberto Metzker * Rua Paulo Sendas * Rua Paulo Fernandes Rocha * Rua José Ferreira de Almeida * Rua Waldeck Martins * Rua D * Rua C * Rua B * Rua Professor Cid Pitanga * Avenida Getúlio Vargas

Notes

References

External links

In Portuguese

''Municipality of Governador Valadares - Bairro Vila Império''

Map of the Urbanization of the Municipality of Governador Valadares

In English

Vila Império
{{Brazil topics Populated places in Minas Gerais Geography of Minas Gerais Minas Gerais Brazil Populated places Neighbourhoods in Minas Gerais