Pirenópolis
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Pirenópolis, also known as Piri, is a historic municipality located in the Brazilian state of
Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District (Brazil), Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Ge ...
. It is known for its
waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...
s and Portuguese colonial architecture, and a popular festival involving mounted horses called Festa do Divino Espírito Santo which takes place 45 days after
Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...
. Pirenópolis is located 120 km from
Goiânia Goiânia ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian federative units of Brazil, state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region and the 10th-larges ...
, the state capital, and 150 km from
Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...
, the federal capital.


History

The history of Pirenópolis begins in 1727 when it was founded with the name of Minas de Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Meia Ponte, Meia Ponte (half a bridge) because half of the bridge over the Almas River was swept away in a flood. The first colonizers were Portuguese who came for the
gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
easily found in the Rio das Almas. From 1750 to 1800 there was a golden age when four churches were built and Pirenópolis competed with Vila Boa (present day Cidade de Goiás) as the richest town in the province. After 1800 a downturn over gold mining was set and the part of the population emigrated. With the change of commercial routes to Anápolis, the city became economically isolated. The first newspaper in the province, the Matutina Meiapontense, was published in Meia Ponte in 1830 by Joaquim Alves de Oliveira. In 1890 the city changed its name from Meia Ponte to Pirenópolis, the city of the Pireneus, the mountains located nearby. In 1960 with the construction of
Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...
there was an intensive exploitation of the famous Pedra de Pirenópolis (quartzite-micáceo). In the 1980s the
hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...
s arrived with their alternative communities and production of handicrafts. Pirenópolis was born again with a huge influx of tourists, especially from Brasília. Churches were restored and all the electrical wiring was put underground.


Etymology

Pyrenópolis (archaic orthography), later Pirenópolis , means in
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
“the City of the Pireneus”. Its name comes from the mountain range that surrounds the city, that is '' Mountain range of the Pireneus ''. According to local tradition, the mountain range received this name for having in the region immigrant
Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance-speaking ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern nation-state of Spain. Genetically and ethnolinguistically, Spaniards belong to the broader Southern a ...
, probably
Catalans Catalans ( Catalan, French and Occitan: ''catalans''; ; ; or ) are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizens of Catalonia, a nationality and autono ...
. Because of some similarity with their native
Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...
of Europe, a mountain chain situated between Spain and
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, they had then given this mountain range the Latin name of ''Pireneus''.


Historic site

Listed as an architectural, urbanistic, landscape and historical heritage for IPHAN - the Institute of National Historic and Artistic Heritage, in 1989, the city has a Historical Center with large, ornate houses and churches of the 18th century, such as: First Church of Our Lady of the Rosary (1728–1732), Churches of Our Lady of the Carmo (1750–1754) and the Church of Our Lord of the Bonfim (Pirenópolis) (1750–1754), and buildings such as the Theater of Pirenópolis, a hybrid style between colonial and neo-classic, of 1899, and the Cine-Pireneus, built in the art-deco style, of 1919 and the House of Chamber and Jail constructed in 1919 as an identical restoration of the 1733 original.


Climate

The climate is humid sub-tropical with two well-defined seasons: the rainy season, which goes from October to March, and the dry season, which goes from April to September. Parts of the municipality are mountainous and maintain some climatic variations due to altitude.


Economic information

The economy is based on agriculture (coffee, citrus fruits, soybeans, and corn), cattle raising (130,000 head in 2006), services, public administration, and small transformation industries. There are several small food, clothing, and furniture industries. Agricultural data 2006 *Farms: 1,765 *Total area: 191,778 ha. *Area of permanent crops: 1,920 ha. *Area of perennial crops: 4,185 ha. *Area of natural pasture: 125,908 ha. *Area of woodland and forests: 52,775 ha. *Persons dependent on farming: 4,300 *Number of tractors: 177 *Cattle herd: 144,70
IBGE


Education and Health

*Higher education: Campus of the State University of Goiás *Adult literacy rate: 84.4% (2000) (national average was 86.4%) *Hospitals: 2 with 66 beds *Infant mortality rate: 27.52 (2000) (national average was 33.0). *
Human Development Index The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistical composite index of life expectancy, Education Index, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income i ...
: 0.713 *State ranking: 191 (out of 242 municipalities) *National ranking: 2,748 (out of 5,507 municipalities
Frigoletto


Tourism

Major attractions include Igreja Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Meia Ponte, the oldest church in Goiás, and the church Igreja Nosso Senhor do Bonfim. It also has a hippie-like colony which markets clothing and
silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
work. Today Pirenópolis is known all over Brazil for its popular festivals, especially the "Cavalhadas", introduced in 1826, in which horsemen representing
Moors The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a s ...
and
Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...
recreate a battle fought by
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
. This tradition, part of the Festival for the Holy Spirit (Festa do Espírito Santo), was brought to the town by Portuguese settlers. The Festas de Cavalhadas feature a parade beginning with a bugle fanfare announcing the knight's pages, then the mounted knights displaying their colors. Wearing papier-maché helmets, the Christian knights wear blue, the Moors wear red. The battle lasts three days and attracts thousands of visitors to the town. The Cavalhadas take place in medieval costume, with the highlight being the mock battle, performed in the city's bullring. The Moors invariably are defeated and convert to Christianity.
Cavalhadas
The town has been restored artistically with its stone paved streets and colonial houses (casarões). The Almas River, a tributary of the
Tocantins River The Tocantins River ( , Parkatêjê dialect, Parkatêjê: ''Pyti'' ɨˈti is a river in Brazil, the central fluvial artery of the country. In the Tupi language, its name means "toucan's beak" (''Tukã'' for "toucan" and ''Ti'' for "beak"). It ...
which flows north to form the Serra da Mesa artificial lake, passes near the town and is crossed by a restored wooden bridge. There are an old theater, cinema, and a museum of the cavalhadas. The municipality contains part of the Pirineus State Park, created in 1987. Waterfalls are the primary tourist attraction for Pirenopolis and Corumbá. Around the town, in a distance of 15 km., there are more than twenty spectacular waterfalls with pristine water. Some of them are enormous such as the Salto de Corumba (which disappeared for decades when prospectors diverted the waters for dredging). Other waterfalls are formed by a series of cascades. Many are on private property and are operated as a business. Other falls can be found on hiking trails. One of the longest rivers in the state of Goiás, the Corumbá River has its source near Pirenópolis. A new attraction to Pirenopolis is the small
ecovillage An ecovillage is a traditional or intentional community that aims to become more socially, culturally, economically and/or environmentally sustainable. An ecovillage strives to have the least possible negative impact on the natural environment ...
and permaculture design institute located a few kilometers outside of town called the IPEC or The Institute of Permaculture and Ecovillage of the Cerrado. Bringing in foreign students through study abroad programs such a
Living Routes
visitors get a first-hand account of the possibilities of sustainable living.


Waterfalls

Image:Pirenópolis-Waterfall-VargemGrande.jpg, Waterfall Santa Maria, inside Vargem Grande farm. File:Abade com ref.JPG, Abade waterfall File:Cachoeira do rosario2.JPG, Rosário waterfall


See also

* Church of Our Lady of the Rosary of Black Men * Our Lady of the Rosary Parish *
List of municipalities in Goiás This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Goiás (GO), in the Central-West Region of Brazil. Goiás is divided into 246 municipalities, which are grouped into 18 microregions, which are grouped into 5 mesoregions. Ordered by regio ...


References


External links


FrigolettoOfficial websitePirenópolis, Goiás, Brasil
Website with news, events and important tips about Pirenópolis, Goiás.
Pirenópolis, Goiás
site with information about the town, hotels, attractions and the festival of the Cavalhadas with photos and videos.
Tourism in Pirenópolis
Much information regarding culture, history, attractions, hotels and more

site with photos
Ecocentro at the Institute of Permaculture and Ecovillage of the Cerrado
in English. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pirenopolis Municipalities in Goiás