Vila do Abraão

Abraão Village ( Portuguese for City of Abraham) is the main town of the island of Ilha Grande, which is part of the municipality of Angra dos Reis is in the south of the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro.

The place in the northeast of the island has about 3,000 inhabitants.

Economy

Situated on the edge of the Natural Park of Ilha Grande City thrives on national and international tourism. There are in the town about 100 B & Bs and a fleet of sailing ships, the daily tours of the area and the natural park perform. Cars are not allowed on the island.

Abraão Village has a diving base and a tourist information office.

There is a daily ferry from Vila do Abraão with Angra dos Reis and Mangaratiba. The journey takes about 75 minutes for a distance of approximately 25 km, respectively.

The town is the starting point for excursions into the National Park Ilha Grande and other sights of the island such as the rise of the nearby, second highest with 982 m mountain on the island, Pico and welcoming hosts, the " Parrot Top".

History

Abraão Village was in the 18th century as the center of Ilha Grande the main hub of the slave trade for the southern part of the territory of Rio de Janeiro. In one of the darkest periods of Brazilian history landed over 200 years on the beaches of Palma and Dois Rios ships with men, women and children from Africa, destined for the hard work on the sugar plantations and haciendas ( farms ) of Rio de Janeiro.

In order for the abolition of slavery in 1850 to meet the growing demand for labor, Brazil opened the doors for mainly European and Asian immigrants. Since some of these countries were infested at the time of cholera and other epidemics, Emperor Dom Pedro I set up a quarantine hospital near Abraão Village on Ilha Grande, where the immigrants had to stop for a while until they were "officially" allowed to enter Brazil. The ruins of the military hospital today, though overgrown by Atlantic Forest, still exists.