Paraty

Paraty on the map of Rio de Janeiro

Paraty ( Parati also ) ( Brazilian pronunciation: [ paɾatʃi ] ) is a city in Brazil in the state of Rio de Janeiro and has about 37,600 inhabitants. It is located between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, about two miles off the road from Santos to Rio. In 1958, the historic center has been declared a national monument. The city center is largely closed to traffic.

The city is characterized by its almost completely preserved historical architecture from the 17th century. The houses are all painted white with colorful window and door surrounds. The roads have a rough cobblestones, which was laid by slaves. At high tide, the tide flows in the streets.

One of the villas, the Villa Boa Vista, is the birthplace of the mother of Thomas Mann, Julia Mann, who spent the first seven years of her life here.

History

Paraty is located in an area that has been inhabited from time immemorial by the Guaiana Indians. The coast with small hidden coves and lush vegetation offered favorable living conditions; Fish, game and fruit were available in abundance. The word " Parati ", also called " Paratii " designated a species of fish.

As a nomadic people, the Guaianás many paths created in the jungle, even the most towering mountains of the coastal range to overcome the Serra do Mar and so connect to the highlands (800 m above sea level. NN ). Paraty was created as the end point of this path, which led in the 16th century from Sao Paulo through the Paraíba Valley and in Paraty ended up as land. From there, you took the boat to Rio de Janeiro.

Colonization

The founding date Paraty is not known. Some historians believe that 1540-1560 a village existed on the mountain on the river Pereque - Acu, which is therefore called Vila Velha ( " Old Village "). The mountain is now called Morro do Forte. It is known that intensified the connection between the city of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Vicente Kapitanie after the creation of the General Rio de Janeiro 1574-1578 and segments of the population settled in the Kapitanie Sao Vicente on the lying between two cities coast. The Guaianás at that time were already allies of the colonists and supported them in the hunt and enslavement of other Indian tribes to use these sugar cane cultivation. The first mention of the port of Paraty was made by the Englishman Anthony Knivet, a member of the expedition of Martim Correa de Sá, in 1597th

Paraty in the 17th century

Anyway, the village of Paraty already existed at the beginning of the 17th century; 1646 was the relocation to its present location between the rivers Pereque - Acu and Patitiba. The area was donated by Mary Jácome de Mello with the order to build a chapel in honor of the Nossa Senhora dos Remédios there. In 1667, the village was separated rice by desire of the population as an independent community, " Villa Nossa Senhora dos Remédios de Paratii " from the city of Angra dos. Despite the obtained self-government, it was at this time still a small community of about 50 modest houses, built of mud with thatched roofs.

Towards the end of the 17th century gold and precious stones were discovered in Minas Gerais. Again, the scale of the Indians connection paths have been used to overcome the Serra da Mantiqueira and advance into the interior of Brazil. The old way of Guaianás with the port of Paraty was integrated into the Goldweg " Caminho do Ouro ". After the Portuguese administration had prevented the emergence of other ways to ensure that the subsidized goods were transported under control, Paraty became the hub in both ways directions - for transporting goods by the mines and the return transport of gold and to be loaded onto the ships. A fort on the hill secured the city from attack.

As long as this strategic location could be obtained Paraty took an active part in the economic development of the then Brazil. The gold cycle contributed significantly to the immigration of Portuguese settlers, a considerable proportion of them came over to Brazil Paraty. The first half of the 18th century was the heyday of the town of Paraty. Important buildings fall into this time, such as the construction of quays, the churches of Santa Rita, Nossa Senhora do Rosário, Sao Benedito and Nossa Senhora da Conceicao.

Even the slave trade contributed to the wealth of the city. In addition to the incoming settlers here also slaves were unloaded and made ​​it into the interior.

With the expansion of the population in the mining areas, the adequate supply of cheap food became a problem. The population Paraty began with the production of food for the mines as well as for the city of Rio de Janeiro. This economic base helped the city after 1728 the direct route from Minas Gerais to Rio de Janeiro, the " Caminho Novo " ( New Way) was built and Paraty thereby excluded from the transport of gold.

Similarly, the sugar production was a mainstay of the economy. Sugar was at the time in the world market much more expensive than it is today, and so considerable sums were towards the end of the 18th century invested in the cultivation and processing of sugar cane. During the peak of the sugar production ( Engenhos ) and distilleries were counted in Paraty over 250 mills; here produced " Aguardente " ( brandy) was known as one of the best of Brazil, and was occasionally exported. Paraty has become synonymous with " cachaça ".

Renaissance and decline in the 19th century

Due to the Napoleonic occupation of Portugal in 1807, the entire royal party moved on to a majority of the Portuguese nobility and the crown jewels from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro; Rio de Janeiro was temporarily the capital of the Portuguese Empire, which had a significant change of circumstances in Brazil result. With the sudden increase of about 10,000 people was in Rio de Janeiro is a much higher demand for food, and so Paraty was required at short notice again as a trading center for this trade.

At the same time the coffee cultivation grew in importance and so replaced the lost through the dried up stream of gold trading opportunities. In Paraíba Valley Coffee was increasingly cultivated and used the old Goldweg again for the coffee export. The new industry allowed another city growth; the church of Nossa Senhora das Dores were built and the Hospital Santa Casa de Misericordia. Since 1830, coffee was the main Umschlagsgut the port of Paraty next to the cachaça. The plantation owners or " coffee barons " were loading their coffee and bought slaves, food, spices, clothing and luxury goods.

The emergence of significant funds in the hands of the coffee barons meant that this means inserting to improve the infrastructure for faster and safer transportation of coffee. With the completion of the railway link Sao Paulo - Rio de Janeiro in the second half of the 19th century by the Paraíba Valley of the arduous transport had become superfluous with mules over the old Goldweg. The flow of goods no longer needed Paraty; the Goldweg had outlived its usefulness.

The products produced in the region products had to be transported by ship and were therefore too expensive still. After final liberation of the slaves in 1888 agriculture came to a virtual standstill. At the end of the 19th century, Paraty was one of only about 600 people, mostly " old men, women and children "; 1851 were still living 16,000 inhabitants in Paraty. Isolated and impoverished Paraty was cut off from the modern development of Brazil.

Rediscovery in the 20th century

In the 1950s, work began on construction of the road BR -101 from Rio to Santos, the region was opened up. The Atlantic rainforest Mata Atlântica remained partially intact. The almost forgotten Paraty developed due to its location between the rainforest and the Atlantic coast and its intact colonial architecture to create a touristy important place. A large part of Paraty has become nature reserve, two-thirds belong to the National Park Serra da Bocaina.

There are several national parks in the area, which have become a tourist attraction. It offered schooner and boat tours that run during one to six hours to the surrounding islands. Here, the swimming and diving is possible in crystal clear water. Another attraction of the area are several waterfalls on the road to Cunha. Also worth mentioning are the beaches of Paraty -Mirim and Trindade.

Culture

Paraty is involved in the literary events such as Toronto and Mantua in Italy. The Festa Literaria Internacional de Paraty offers each year in a historical context readings and technical discussions between national and international authors.

Since the development of tourism, many artists have settled. So there are a variety of galleries with works of folk art to modern. Often live music is played. A now well-known music festival is the " Bourbon Festival Paraty ," the beginning of June 2012 for the fourth time with internationally known jazz, blues, inter alia, Musicians takes place. Traditional Catholic festivals make to the cultural life.

Environment and Nature

Paraty is surrounded by a very unspoilt nature. To the west lies the South Atlantic with the island world Baia da Ilha Grande. Here you can find especially diving enthusiasts pristine coastal areas where fish and turtles can be observed. In the east the Serra Bocaina extends as a National Park covering a wide area. A road leads up to the tropical coastal forest, the Mata Atlantica with waterfalls and varied flora and fauna. The paved road ends at the entrance to the National Park. From here you can take guided hikes. There are a number of smaller pensions. Only off-road vehicles can venture onward travel to Cunha in the state of São Paulo. The path is the former Caminho do Ouro (path of gold ), were transported by slaves inland to Minas Gerais and minerals, gems and gold reached for shipment to Paraty.

The north extends from Paraty a green coastal landscape with many extensive beaches. To the south it is a short drive past Paraty -Mirim and Trindade through the National Park Serra da Bocaina to Ubatuba. This location is already in the state of São Paulo. On this route you can still see some Quilombos, villages that were built by slaves and natives fled. They are surrounded by beautiful beaches, which are often the destination of surfers as they have a direct Atlantic surf.

Gallery

In the port

Igreja das Dores

On the old harbor

Beach

Spelling

A few decades ago Brazil conducted a spelling reform. In some of these have been eliminated "exotic" letters. These included, for example, next to the " W" and the "Y". Proper names, as well as geographical names, however, were specifically excluded from the conversion. Therefore, the correct spelling is Paraty, which is also used by the community itself. In early 2009, the alphabet was introduced in Brazil "complete" with 26 letters again.