Roque Gonzales 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 ...

located in the northwestern region of the southernmost state of

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...

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 ...

, east of the

Uruguay River The Uruguay River ( es, Río Uruguay, ; pt, Rio Uruguai, ) is a major river in South America. It flows from north to south and forms parts of the boundaries of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, separating some of the Argentine provinces of La M ...

and the

Argentinian Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

border. Roque Gonzales was named after the

jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

and

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

Roque González de Santa Cruz Roque is an American variant of croquet played on a hard, smooth surface. Popular in the first quarter of the 20th century and billed "the Game of the Century" by its enthusiasts, it was an Olympic sport in the 1904 Summer Games, replacing cr ...

. The municipality would be partially flooded by the proposed Garabí Dam.

Neighboring municipalities

* Porto Xavier * São Paulo das Missões * São Pedro do Butiá * Rolador *

São Luiz Gonzaga São Luiz Gonzaga (Portuguese for St. Aloysius Gonzaga) is a municipality of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Its population is 33,293 (2020 est.) in an area of 1295,68 km². It was founded in the 17th century as a Jesuit mission to ...

* Dezesseis de Novembro *

Pirapó Pirapó is a municipality of the western part of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The population is 2,254 (2020 est.) in an area of 295.01 km2. The town is situated by the Ijuí River, close to its confluence with the Uruguay River, w ...

History

Primarily

German-Brazilian German Brazilians (German: ''Deutschbrasilianer'', Hunsrik: ''Deitschbrasiliooner'', pt, teuto-brasileiros) refers to Brazilians of full or partial German ancestry. German Brazilians live mostly in the country's South Region, with a smaller ...

s or Deutschbrasilianer from the old colonized areas of the state of Rio Grande do Sul settled Roque Gonzales. The original German settlements whence they came were often referred to as ''Altkolonie'' because they are located on the eastern part of the state where Germans first put down roots, starting in 1824 (i.e.

Estrela Estrela, Portuguese for "star", may refer to: Animals *Estrela Mountain Dog, a breed of working dog native to the range * Phyllonorycter estrela, a moth of the family Gracillariidae Geography Portugal * Serra da Estrela Subregion, a NUTS3 statist ...

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

, ''Lajeado'', etc.). ''East Pomeranian'' has been spoken in ''Esquina Emanuel'' since the early days of its foundation because it was settled by immigrants of Pomeranian descent. ''Dona Otília'' was settled primarily by

Lutherans Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

. Typically most of the German speakers in the municipality and in the wider region spoke

Riograndenser Hunsrückisch Hunsrik (natively and Portuguese ''Hunsrik'' or ''Hunsrückisch''), also called ''Riograndenser Hunsrückisch'' or ''Katharinensisch'', is a Moselle Franconian language derived primarily from the Hunsrückisch dialect of West Central German. ...

and identified with the Roman Catholic tradition and customs. In 2012 the state chamber of deputies voted unanimously in favor of recognizing this Germanic dialect an official historical culture good to be preserved. The city of Roque Gonzales is home of writer Nelson Hoffmann who wrote, among other works, which was translated into Italian as by Marco Scalabrino. The book is about the relationship of a grandfather, the author, with his first grandson. It has received positive reviews and has been classified by some as a book for all ages. The ''Premio Missões'' of literature of Roque Gonzales is headed by João Weber Griebeler of ''Igaçaba Produções Culturais'' and it covers mostly

Brazilian literature Brazilian literature is the literature written in the Portuguese language by Brazilians or in Brazil, including works written prior to the country's independence in 1822. Throughout its early years, literature from Brazil followed the literary t ...

but some works in other languages are also occasionally published (collective anthology). Griebeler also is the editor of the local newspaper, the ''Jornal Igaçaba''. Roque Gonzales is located near the margins of the ''Rio Ijuí''. Not too far south from the town the river turns into a wide waterfall: ''Salto Pirapó''. Camping is available in the area. It is a great place for bird watching, hiking a relaxation. This is also the location of a small hydroelectric plant built almost one hundred years ago and a fixture in local history. Two new hydroelectric plants have been built on the Ijuí river within the general region.

References

External links

Roque Gonzales official site
(in Portuguese)
Roque Gonzales – Cerro Inhacurutum
(in Portuguese) German-Brazilian culture Languages of Brazil Municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul {{RioGrandedoSul-geo-stub

Neighboring municipalities

History

See also

References

External links