Pirenópolis | |
|---|---|
| Municipality of Pirenópolis | |
 Festa do Divino Espirírito Santo  Santa Maria Waterfall .jpg) Ponte do Carmo  Knight of the Pirenópolis Cavalcades .jpg) Historic center  Igreja Matriz do Rosário | |
 Flag  Seal | |
| Nicknames: Cradle of the Goiana Press, rare Jewel of the center-west | |
 Location of Pirenópolis | |
| Coordinates:15°51′07″S48°57′32″W / 15.85194°S 48.95889°W /-15.85194; -48.95889 | |
| Country |  Brazil |
| Region | Centre-West |
| State |  Goiás |
| Founded | 7 October 1727 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Nivaldo Antônio de Melo |
| Elevation | 770 m (2,530 ft) |
| Population (2020[1]) | |
• Total | 25,064 |
| Time zone | UTC−3 (BRT) |
| Postal code | 72980-000 |
| HDI (2010) | 0.693 –medium[2] |
| Website | pirenopolis |
Pirenópolis, also known asPiri,[3] is a historic municipality located in theBrazilian state ofGoiás. It is known for itswaterfalls andPortuguese colonial architecture, and a popular festival involving mounted horses calledFesta do Divino Espírito Santo which takes place 45 days afterEaster. Pirenópolis is located 120 km fromGoiânia, the state capital, and 150 km fromBrasília, the federal capital.
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 werePortuguese who came for thegold 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 ofBrasília there was an intensive exploitation of the famous Pedra de Pirenópolis (quartzite-micáceo). In the 1980s thehippies 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.
Pyrenópolis (archaic orthography), later Pirenópolis, means inGreek “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 immigrantSpaniards, probablyCatalans. Because of some similarity with their nativePyrenees of Europe, a mountain chain situated between Spain andFrance, they had then given this mountain range the Latin name ofPireneus.
Listed as an architectural, urbanistic, landscape and historical heritage forIPHAN - 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 theChurch of Our Lord of the Bonfim (Pirenópolis) (1750–1754), and buildings such as theTheater of Pirenópolis, a hybrid style betweencolonial andneo-classic, of 1899, and theCine-Pireneus, built in theart-deco style, of 1919 and theHouse of Chamber and Jail constructed in 1919 as an identical restoration of the 1733 original.
The climate is humidsub-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.
| Climate data for Pirenópolis (1991–2020) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 30.0 (86.0) | 30.4 (86.7) | 30.4 (86.7) | 30.9 (87.6) | 30.5 (86.9) | 30.1 (86.2) | 30.6 (87.1) | 32.5 (90.5) | 33.7 (92.7) | 32.9 (91.2) | 30.5 (86.9) | 30.0 (86.0) | 31.0 (87.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 23.7 (74.7) | 23.6 (74.5) | 23.6 (74.5) | 23.4 (74.1) | 22.0 (71.6) | 20.9 (69.6) | 21.0 (69.8) | 23.1 (73.6) | 25.2 (77.4) | 25.1 (77.2) | 24.0 (75.2) | 23.8 (74.8) | 23.3 (73.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 19.4 (66.9) | 19.3 (66.7) | 19.3 (66.7) | 18.5 (65.3) | 16.3 (61.3) | 14.6 (58.3) | 14.2 (57.6) | 15.8 (60.4) | 18.5 (65.3) | 19.4 (66.9) | 19.5 (67.1) | 19.6 (67.3) | 17.9 (64.2) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 281.7 (11.09) | 238.4 (9.39) | 254.7 (10.03) | 155.3 (6.11) | 28.5 (1.12) | 6.4 (0.25) | 1.8 (0.07) | 11.1 (0.44) | 37.0 (1.46) | 134.9 (5.31) | 239.8 (9.44) | 277.7 (10.93) | 1,667.3 (65.64) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 18.9 | 16.7 | 18.0 | 10.7 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 3.8 | 11.2 | 16.1 | 18.6 | 118.7 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 79.5 | 79.8 | 80.2 | 76.1 | 69.1 | 62.9 | 54.6 | 45.9 | 48.3 | 63.1 | 76.0 | 79.1 | 67.9 |
| Averagedew point °C (°F) | 20.3 (68.5) | 20.4 (68.7) | 20.5 (68.9) | 19.6 (67.3) | 17.1 (62.8) | 14.7 (58.5) | 12.7 (54.9) | 11.8 (53.2) | 13.9 (57.0) | 17.8 (64.0) | 19.9 (67.8) | 20.2 (68.4) | 17.4 (63.3) |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 148.3 | 147.4 | 163.1 | 202.8 | 242.0 | 247.9 | 268.0 | 268.3 | 217.7 | 198.2 | 148.3 | 137.2 | 2,389.2 |
| Source:NOAA[4] | |||||||||||||
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
Major attractions includeIgreja Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Meia Ponte, the oldest church in Goiás, and the churchIgreja Nosso Senhor do Bonfim. It also has a hippie-like colony which markets clothing andsilverwork.
Today Pirenópolis is known all over Brazil for its popular festivals, especially the "Cavalhadas", introduced in 1826, in which horsemen representingMoors andChristians recreate a battle fought byCharlemagne.[5] 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. Wearingpapier-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 theTocantins River 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 2,833 hectares (7,000 acres)Pirineus State Park, created in 1987.[6]Waterfalls are the primarytourist 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, theCorumbá River has its source near Pirenópolis.
A new attraction to Pirenopolis is the smallecovillage andpermaculture design institute located a few kilometers outside of town called the IPEC or TheInstitute of Permaculture and Ecovillage of the Cerrado. Bringing in foreign students through study abroad programs such asLiving Routes, visitors get a first-hand account of the possibilities of sustainable living.
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