Alcântara (Maranhão)
| Alcântara | ||
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Coordinates: 2 ° 25 ′ S , 44 ° 25 ′ W Alcântara on the map of Maranhão
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| Basic data | ||
| Country | Brazil | |
| State | Maranhão | |
| Residents | 21,652 (2010) | |
| Detailed data | ||
| surface | 1496 km 2 | |
| Population density | 14 people / km 2 | |
| height | 4 m | |
| Post Code | 62250-000 | |
| Time zone | UTC −3 | |
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Alcântara , officially Município de Alcântara , is a small town in the north of the Brazilian state of Maranhão with around 4,000 inhabitants (around 22,000 in the municipality). It is located on the Baía de São Marcos bay , across from São Luís , the capital of the state. Alcântara was once one of the most important and richest cities of Maranhão, but later lost that status to São Luís. Numerous architectural monuments, some of which have been severely damaged or destroyed and have been under monument protection since 1948, still bear witness to its former wealth. The Alcântara spaceport , where Brazil is launching rockets and planning to launch commercial satellites into space, is also located in the huge municipal area . Since the 1980s, spectacular finds of dinosaur remains have been made in several places in the territory of Alcântara .
geography
The municipality of Alcântara is at an average altitude of 32 meters above sea level. It is bounded to the north by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west by the Bahia de Cumã bay and the Rio Pericumã river and to the east by the Baía de São Marcos bay . The neighboring communities are Cajapió in the south, São Luís in the east and Guimarães , Bacurituba and Bequimão in the west.
The city of Alcântara is only separated from the city of São Luís by the Baía de São Marcos . There are liners for the crossing. At this point the bay is around 15 kilometers wide.
Alcântara, which is almost on the equator , has a tropical climate with an average annual temperature of 28 ° C. The vegetation is also tropical, especially on the banks of the two bays there are extensive mangroves .
The municipality includes two islands:
The Ilha do Livramento is about 10 minutes by boat from Alcântara and has some beautiful beaches. On the island there is a lighthouse and the church Capela de Nossa Senhora do Livramento . The Ilha do Cajual is a nature reserve . Some endangered bird species breed here, for example the particularly rare red ibis ( Eudocimus ruber ), a pink spoonbill species known in Brazil as guará . The island is also a stop for many species of migratory birds. The Ilha do Cajual is one of the areas with the highest fossil density in Brazil.
Part of the territory of the municipality is also occupied by the Área de Proteção Ambiental de Reentrâncias Maranhenses nature reserve established in 1991 , which covers almost 2.7 million hectares and extends over several municipalities.
history
Before the arrival of Europeans, there were in the area of today's Alcântara already a large settlement of the Tupinambá - Indians , in turn, before the settlement of the Tapuio had conquered -Indios. The settlement was called Tapuytapera , which means settlement of the long-haired Tapuio .
The French, who were the first Europeans to conquer the region, also called the village Tapuytapera , which is evident from the correspondence of the conquerors, for example the historian Claude d'Abeville . The French built a fortification in São Luís and contacted the Tupinambá in Tapuytapera under Chief Pira-Jivá for information about the area. These relatively friendly encounters ended with an alliance between the Tupinambá and the French; around 300 to 400 residents helped build the fortress of São Luís and accompanied the French on exploratory trips to the Amazon and the Rio Tocantins . The Tupinambá also supported the French in the Battle of São Luís, after which the victorious Portuguese took control of all of Maranhão .
The Portuguese victory also meant that the Tupinambá, who had supported the opponents, were enslaved. In 1621, Tapuytapera became the capital of the Cumã captaincy . With this captaincy António de Albuquerque Coelho de Carvalho , brother of the then governor of the Maranhão , Francisco de Albuquerque Coelho de Carvalho was entrusted. In 1648 the settlement was elevated to a vila (small town) and was given the name Alcântara on this occasion . The first municipal council was set up and economic development began with the construction of a sugar mill, and two monasteries were also founded. From 1716 there was also a school established by the Jesuits .
Because of its close proximity to the city of São Luís, Alcântara rose to become a center of agricultural production. São Luís was supplied with food from Alcântara. At the same time, a very lucrative trade in sugar began: Salt and refined sugar achieved top prices, but raw sugar could also make a fortune. Due to the unsuitability of the Indians, the need for labor was met with slaves from Africa. Alcântara thus became one of the centers of slavery in Brazil.
In 1850 economic development reached its peak. There were 81 farms , 22 sugar mills and over 100 salt pans . Alcântara was the largest exporter of the Maranhão , with salt, sugar, sugar cane brandy, dried meat, leather and cotton being the main products. The industrial revolution in England led to a sharp increase in the demand for cotton, which gave further impetus to economic development. The producers of salt, sugar and cotton, the rural aristocracy of the Maranhão, who also often descended from the Portuguese nobility, were able to build large mansions thanks to their wealth and lived in the same prosperity as the European aristocracy. The children of the country aristocrats were sent to the most prestigious European universities.
In 1865, however, the decline began to emerge. The reasons for this were that the prices for sugar and cotton fell sharply because these products were also grown efficiently in other areas of Brazil. The trade shifted completely to the neighboring São Luís . When slavery was banned in 1888, Alcântara fell into the largely insignificant state that it is still in today.
economy
Today's economy in Alcântara is largely based on agriculture, in which almost the entire working population of the municipality outside the urban area is employed. Livestock, the cultivation of rice and vegetables as well as the logging are important. The standard of living is very low. The 2001 census showed that three quarters of the population over 10 years had less income than the monthly minimum wage, two thirds had no regular income at all. The average income is estimated at around 20,500 real annually, which corresponds to around 5550 euros (as of 2004).
The few companies that are active in Alcântara deal with the processing of agricultural products or are suppliers for the needs of agriculture.
Tourism is becoming increasingly important. Due to its proximity to the big city of São Luís, Alcântara is relatively easy to get to and it is hoped to attract a large number of cultural tourists interested in Alcântara's architectural heritage. Furthermore, one wants to rely on ecotourism, because there are almost untouched mangroves and dreamlike sandy beaches in the municipal area, which are partly a military restricted area due to the spaceport and partly heavily polluted by washed up garbage. The community hopes to attract tourists interested in technology through the Alcântara spaceport.
The infrastructure has improved significantly since the spaceport was set up, the level is above that of other regions in Brazil, for example Alcântara can be reached via an asphalt road. The road network is still very thin: If you want to drive from São Luís to Alcântara by car instead of by boat, you have to take a 400-kilometer detour. Most of the roads within the municipality are still unpaved and even the trunk road is sometimes washed away in tropical rainfalls.
There are several primary schools in the municipality of Alcântara, but no secondary school. The only hospital on the almost 1,500 square kilometer territory is below average.
Spaceport
A few kilometers north of Alcântara is the Brazilian spaceport Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara (CLA). Brazilian and American sounding rockets have been launched from here since 1990 .
Two launches of the Brazilian launcher rocket VLS-1 failed and the rocket had to be blown up in flight. Before the third attempt at launch, the missile exploded on the ramp, killing 21 technicians. That Brazilian rocket explosion in 2003 was a major blow to the national space program.
From 2014, Ukrainian Tsiklon-4 missiles should also be launched from the CLA. However, Brazil withdrew from the contract in 2016.
population
The population consists largely of agreements between the slaves deported from Africa and mixed race. Half of the residents in the municipality are younger than 20 years. The proportion of the population over 10 years of age with an education of more than three years is also only half. 70 percent of the population live in rural areas, only 30 percent in the city itself.
Culture
Alcântara has an important architectural heritage of baroque buildings in the colonial style . The approximately 300 buildings are spread over three squares, eight alleys and ten streets in the old town. Many of these historic buildings have fallen into disrepair, while others are still inhabited today. The historic city ensemble is to be revitalized in the next few years. On July 29, 2004, the Brazilian Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil, announced on a visit to the city that the Projeto Alcântara would be provided with around 4 million reals (around 1.1 million euros) for this purpose. The city thus became part of the Programa Monumenta , which is supported by the Ministry of Culture and the Inter-American Development Bank , whose goal is to restore and protect Brazilian architectural heritage.
The Porto do Jacaré , the old port of the city, lies on the river arm of the same name and was built in the 18th century. It was the former trading center and the transshipment point for products from the area around Alcântara and is still the landing point for ships, especially to and from São Luís. Then as now there is a market and warehouses and mansions from the 18th century. The Porto do Jacaré is also the scene of many popular festivals. The Ladeira do Jacaré leads from the port up a hill into the city center.
The main square is called Praça da Matriz . Here are the ruins of the Igreja Matriz de São Matias church, built in 1648 . According to popular belief, a snake sleeps under this church. In the middle of the Praça da Matriz is the Pelourinho , a kind of pillory column - an institution that can be found in many Portuguese and Brazilian cities. It was built in 1648 and rebuilt in 1948 after it had already been buried. The Casa da Câmara e Cadeia , built in the 18th century, used to be the seat of the local government as it is today.
Sobrados , two-story mansions,decoratedaccording to the Portuguese model with cast-iron balconies and azulejos , can be found mainly in Rua Grande (Great Street) and on Praça Gomes de Castro .
The Museu Histórico de Alcântara shows sacred art, pictures and furniture from Brazil in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Mercado dos Negros , also Palácio Negro, is located on the city's former quay and was the marketplace for the slave trade (the name also means black market ). The market is located on Rua da Amargura , which got its name because many children of the aristocracy set off from here by ship to Europe to study. Because of the parents who cried when they said goodbye to their children, the quay was called the Street of Bitterness .
Paleontological finds
Alcântara and the Baía de São Marcos are part of the São Luis-Grajaú basin . This basin was formed after the giant continent of Gondwana broke up in the early Cretaceous period and the two parts of South America and Africa moved apart. The result was a long, shallow sea that filled with sediment and encompassed the entire north coast of Maranhão . The immediate vicinity of Alcântara must have been a large river delta with lush nature and a similarly hot and humid climate as today.
In the 1980s, footprints attributed to various species of dinosaurs , mainly large carnivores, were found on Praia da Baronesa beach . Later, the remains of large sea-dwelling Mosasauridae , but also of fish, turtles and crocodiles were found in the same place . In 1994 teeth that were assigned to the Mosasaurus could also be found and allowed the conclusion that it was a sea creature that fed on molluscs and was very well adapted to life in shallow water.
Also in 1994, satellite images brought attention to the Laje do Coringa formation , which is located on the island of Ilha do Cajual . The remains of dinosaurs (teeth and bones) were found here, which must have lived around 95 to 90 million years ago at the beginning of the Upper Cretaceous . The most important finds come from Carcharodontosaurus , an approximately 14 meter long carnivore, and from Spinosaurus , also a carnivore. In addition, the occurrence of Sigilmassasaurus , of which remains had first been found in Morocco, was proven . Further evidence that there was only a shallow sea between Africa and South America in the Cretaceous Period, which was dry at low tide, is the various Titanosauridae , traces of which were found both here and on various sites in Africa.
The exploration of the Laje do Coringa is not very advanced. On the one hand, this is due to the fact that the site is very young, on the other hand, it is in a position: Laje do Coringa is located directly on the sea and can only be accessed at low tide . At high tide , the surface is about four meters under water. This means that excavations cannot take more than six hours.
literature
- Barnabas Bosshart: Alcantara. A city in Brazil between colonial memories and rocket dreams . Stemmle, Schaffhausen 1989. ISBN 3-7231-0384-7
Web links
- City Council website , Prefeitura Municipal (Brazilian Portuguese)
- Prehistoric finds in the Bacia do São Luís-Grajaú ( Memento from July 22, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) (Portuguese)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Roberto Maltchik: Brasil formaliza rompimento de acordo para lançar foguete ucraniano. O Globo , July 23, 2016, accessed August 22, 2018 (Brazilian Portuguese).
