Cities and landscapes in Rio Grande do Sul
Cities and Landscapes in Rio Grande do Sul gives an overview of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul .
Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil . North of the capital Porto Alegre in a hilly plateau that flattens to the west is the settlement area of German and Italian immigrants with small-scale agriculture. The south and west are determined by the pampas , a wide prairie landscape . Behind the beaches on the Atlantic coast, some very large lagoons have formed.
Porto Alegre and surroundings
Porto Alegre is not only the industrial center of the Brazilian south, a lively city without any major sights. It has become known worldwide through a new kind of open local politics (transparent and participatory budget ), which was operated here by the very strong workers' party Partido dos Trabalhadores . Due to the high number of activists, including the environmental movement, there was an infrastructure that made it possible to organize several world social forums.
German immigration began in São Leopoldo in the valley of the Rio dos Sinos in 1824, but this is more visible in more rural regions north of the city. Germanness is not marketed as obtrusively here as in Santa Catarina in Pomerode or Blumenau.
Novo Hamburgo , a few kilometers north, was not settled by hamburgers, but more by Hunsrückers . However, Hamburg was the common port of embarkation for the German settlers. In the Hamburgo Velho district (formerly Hamburgerberg ) there are still some old buildings, the museum for Ernesto Frederico Scheffel is not only interesting as a building. Novo Hamburgo is now an industrial city, mainly shoe factories. With their sewage, the tanneries in particular are putting a lot of pressure on rivers such as the Rio Guaíba , while a growing environmental movement is slowly improving the ecological misery. The Serra Gaúcha begins north of the city . The leather industry is also important in Estância Velha , on the other hand you get a lot of German customs there, e.g. For example, a notch with the associated Kerbursch .
Serra Gaúcha and the mountains in the north
The Serra Gaúcha north of Porto Alegre between Novo Hamburgo , Garibaldi and Cambará do Sul is a low mountain range that, on the face of it, looks as hilly and lovely as the Germans. But if you penetrate the remains of the primeval forests, the picture changes, you come to steep river banks with waterfalls and gorges. The typical tree is the araucaria .
Dois Irmãos is the first small town north of Porto Alegre, which is located in the middle of the mountains. Many Colonial cafés line the streets, where you can enjoy the Brazilian version of a typical German dinner in the afternoon, and you can also get kuka (cake) there. In Ivotí , which calls itself the city of flowers , many half-timbered houses were built by German immigrants . In the meantime Japanese immigrants have also arrived. Also Presidente Lucena does not sound German, but it is the capital of the production of lubrication , as they call the homemade jam there. (See also: Riograndenser Hunsrückisch ).
From the inconspicuous Morro Reuter , the steep mountain slope with the jungle can be explored. Somewhat out of the way in a purely German settlement area is the 123 m high waterfall of Santa Maria do Herval . Picada Café , the coffee path , used to be a place for coffee breaks for traders passing through, today it is located in a mountainous landscape like the other cities from São Leopoldo to São Francisco de Paula on the Romantic Road ( Rota Romântica ).
Nova Petrópolis is a well-known “German” spa town, very clean and full of flowers, the Aldeia do Imigrante is a rebuilt half-timbered village with handicrafts.
Best known in the Serra Gaúcha is Gramado , which is also popular because of the occasional snowfall in winter. It looks even more Bavarian here, with many half-timbered houses. During the holiday months and during trade fairs and festivals (e.g. the Festival de Cinema ), several dozen hotels and just as many restaurants fill up. Cafes and chocolate shops are overcrowded.
Canela is a popular, less touristy excursion destination with the 131 m high Caracol waterfall , the 420 m deep canyon of Ferradura and many other natural attractions.
At São Francisco de Paula , araucaria forests and waterfalls on the edge of the highlands are the main attractions.
The Aparados da Serra and the Serra Geral are neighboring national parks and the most scenic area in Rio Grande do Sul. The approximately 1000 meter high hilly plain breaks off abruptly, up to 900 meter deep canyons like the Itaimbezinho or the Cânion de Fortaleza , dozens of waterfalls and bizarre rock formations formed. Many areas can only be reached on foot, a hiking area even popular with Brazilians. The small town of Cambará do Sul is the closest access point to the national parks.
50 km north at Monte Negro , the highest mountain in Rio Grande do Sul, is São José dos Ausentes , a cold highland town with many farms with horses. Similarly, the somewhat larger Bom Jesus near the neighboring state of Santa Catarina, which can be reached via the Vacaria traffic junction . A fifth of all Brazilian apples are harvested there.
Caxias do Sul , a little north of Nova Petrópolis, is the center of Italian immigrants and thus also of wine-growing. Meanwhile, it has also become an industrial city and is one of the fastest growing and richest cities in Brazil. Several small towns with wineries, waterfalls and grottoes such as Ana Rech , Flores da Cunha , Farroupilha or Garibaldi (sparkling wine production) are located nearby . The larger Bento Gonçalves with some old Italian houses is the center of the viticulture. The Vale do Rio das Antas can be explored on foot or with a steam train.
In Veranópolis in the apple-growing area, statistically speaking, people are particularly old, which has made the Terra da Longevidade trademark there . In Nova Prata falling Rio da Prata in the Cascata as Usina 45 meters in depth. The main source of income is basalt mining . There are a few dozen typically Italian wooden houses in Antônio Prado . (See also: Talian ).
Erechim is a young city in which planning is based on large cities like Washington with its large, star-shaped streets tapering towards a central square.
In the vicinity of Frederico Westphalen , which is otherwise known for the mining of amethysts , there is a rare spectacle, the largest longitudinal waterfall (1,800 m long) in the world Salto Yucumã on the Rio Uruguai , which forms the border to Santa Catarina and Argentina. (See also: Kaingang ).
The coast of Rio Grande do Sul
The coastal region in the north of Rio Grande do Sul is, in contrast to the nearby Aparados da Serra National Park, a little varied coast and occasionally lagoons behind it. Torres is the most famous city with a steep coast. Places like Capão da Canoa , Tramandaí and many smaller ones in between are popular with Brazilian, Uruguayan and Argentine beach holidaymakers. Osório is a transport hub between Porto Alegre and the beaches.
Further south there are only small bathing resorts like Cidreira or Pinhal , nature predominates and finds its climax in the Lagoa do Peixe National Park . Mostardas is the only place worth mentioning. The sandy, lagoon-rich and undeveloped region is a paradise for migratory birds that stop here. The large Lagoa dos Patos borders the headland to the west . São Lourenço do Sul , 200 km south of Porto Alegre, is a small seaside resort on the west bank of the lagoon.
Pelotas , the second largest city in the state, is located on the canal connection between the two lagoons Lagoa dos Patos and Lagoa Mirim . It looks very European and is one of the richest cities in Brazil with a lot of food industry. There were also German immigrants at Pelotas, so you can have Café Colonial here .
Rio Grande 60 km from Pelotas is the port city with the super postage at the entrance of the Lagoa dos Patos. The city is a bit run down with only a few buildings from the colonial era. You can take a boat across to São José do Norte , the southern entrance to the Lagoa do Peixe National Park. Cassino is the beach of Rio Grande with a pier dating from 1885 and railway carts with sails as the main attraction.
The Estação Ecológica of Taim is also known as the Pantanal Gaúcho , mainly birds can be seen in the swampy area.
20 km from the Uruguayan border is the quiet town of Santa Vitória do Palmar , a center of rice cultivation . Chuí , the southernmost city in Brazil, is the most important border crossing to Uruguay, separated from the Uruguayan Chuy by the median of the main road . Chuí and Chuy are one huge mall with lots of stalls on the street. The locals of course know what can be bought cheaper on which side of the border. The Barra de Chuí is the longest beach in the country.
Missões and the hinterland of Rio Grande do Sul
During the colonial wars, Azorean settlers were brought to the vast prairies in the west of the state to support the military . The indigenous Guarani population living there, mostly ignored, was taken under the "care" of Spanish Jesuits, who converted them to Christianity, gave their language a Latin script and created a controversial, culturally and religiously utopian "state", the Jesuit reductions . The ruins of the 7 Povos das Missões Orientais are a still visible relic of that era. (See also: Guaraní language ).
To the east of the missions are some large cities. Passo Fundo is a university town and transport hub. Cruz Alta is home to the birthplace of the writer Érico Veríssimo . Ijuí is the center of the first Lithuanian immigration to Brazil.
Santo Ângelo , founded by Jesuits , is the center of the Missões area. The ruins of São Miguel das Missões from 1687 are best preserved . They are now a World Heritage Site. Guaranís sell handicrafts there. São Nicolau , São João Batista and São Lourenço are not quite as well preserved . Another of the Jesuit Eastern missions is São Luiz Gonzaga .
The landscape to the south of the missions is not very varied. Santa Cruz do Sul was first settled by Germans, and customs can still be admired today at the Oktoberfest . A lot of tobacco is grown and processed. The neo-Gothic cathedral is a landmark.
The old city of Rio Pardo lies in the gently rolling grassland .
The university and commercial town of Santa Maria is the center of an area of fossil finds and, like the rice town of Cachoeira do Sul, is a center for livestock and agriculture in the center of the state.
There are 44 traditional cultural groups in Santiago that host several festivals. Not far away is Alegrete , which is considered the center of the Gaúcho culture. With half a million cattle and almost as many sheep, it is one of the main places where milk and wool are produced. It is home to the poet Mario Quintana .
Two presidents, Getúlio Vargas and João Goulart, come from the cattle breeding town of São Borja . It is connected to Argentina via the Ponte da Integração . The trading city of Uruguaiana lies in the triangle with the Ponte Internacional , which connects it with Paso de los Libres .
In Caçapava do Sul, in the middle of the pampas , copper used to be mined, with its mountains and fossils it is now developing into an interesting tourist place. This is where the film Anahy de las Missiones takes place .
Bagé is the center for horse breeding and therefore also for rural tourism.
Santana do Livramento forms a large “shopping center” with the Uruguayan city of Rivera on the other side of a park.