3461 BRAZIL (Pernambuco) - Brazilian Atlantic Islands: Fernando de Noronha and Atol das Rocas Reserves (UNESCO WHS)

3461 Fernando de Noronha island.

Of indescribable beauty, the Fernando de Noronha Marine National Park, located at a distance of about 340 km off the Brazilian coast, is formed by volcanic peaks of a submerged mountain chain. Nearly 70% of the main island of Fernando de Noronha, 21 smaller islands and islets of the archipelago, as well as most adjacent waters to a depth of 50 metres are part of the property.  The Atol das Rocas Biological Reserve, the only atoll in the South Atlantic, is located about 150 km west of Fernando de Noronha. It is an elliptical reef including two small islands surrounded by a marine reserve.

3159 BRAZIL - Ants from Brazil

Insects are, by far, the largest group of animals on the Earth (well over 1,000,000 species), representing 95% of the arthropods and 65% of the animal kingdom. Of these, 10,000 species are of ants (Formicidae), living on all continents except Antarctica. It is believed that the biomass of all the ants in the world equates to the biomass of all humans, and represents about 10% of the biomass of all animals. In Brazil were identified 1484 species and subspecies of ants, of which 529 are endemic.

0598, 2438, 2439 BRAZIL (São Paulo) - Central Zone of São Paulo

2439 Central Zone of São Paulo

Posted on 13.04.2013, 06.04.2016

On January 25, 1554 Manuel da Nóbrega and José de Anchieta together with a group of priests founded the Jesuits' School on a flat surface of a high hill surrounded by rivers Anhangabaú and Tamanduateí. It was on this very same spot that the construction of the first mud-houses gave origin to the village of São Paulo de Piratininga. In 1560 the village became a small town, and in 1681 São Paulo was established as the main town in the Captaincy of São Paulo (administrative division in the former Portuguese colony).

0598 Central Zone of São Paulo - Copan Building and Italy Building

In 1711, the small town received the status of City. Early in the 19th century, after the independence of Brazil, São Paulo became the capital of the province. Practically, the setllement as it shown today was formed during the 20th century, growing from village to metropolis through an irregular urban sprawl. More accurate, until the mid-1950s, in São Paulo the plans were based only on the idea of "demolish and rebuild", the city reaching to have the third highest density of buildings in the world.

2438 Central Zone of São Paulo - Vale do Anhangabaú

The Central Zone of the city, one of the largest commercial and business districts in Latin America, is bounded officially by districts of Municipality Cathedral, but the social perception of it varies and may include other areas of the city. In the middle of the postcard 0598 can be seen the Edifício Copan (Copan Building), one of the largest buildings in Brazil, with the largest floor area of any residential building in the world, erected between 1957 and 1966.

2211 BRAZIL (Rio de Janeiro) - The Carnival in Rio de Janeiro

Considered the biggest festival which occurs before Lent, with two million people per day on the streets, the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro begins on Friday and ends on Ash Wednesday. King Momo, who traditionally is a tall and fat man, is the one who begin the carnival. The Queen and up to 2 princesses have the duty to woo the revelry, along with the King Momo. The carnival parade is filled with revelers, floats and adornments from numerous samba schools which are located in Rio (more than 200, divided into 5 leagues).

2198 BRAZIL (Paraná) - The railway Curitiba-Paranaguá

 

The railroad which link Curitiba, the capital of Paraná, and Paranaguá, across Serra do Mar (Brazil's coastal mountains range), has a length of 110 km and initially was the only way that products from southern states arrived to the Paranaguá port, and from there to the rest of Brazil or anywhere in the world. It was, at the time of inauguration (1885), one of the world's boldest engineering works. Some sources say that in the five years as it took to build the railway, over 50% of the more than 9,000 workers hired for the job, died.

1714 BRAZIL (Rio de Janeiro) - Santa Teresa Tram

Santa Teresa is the name of a neighborhood in the city of Rio de Janeiro, located on top of the Santa Teresa hill, by the centre of Rio. At the end of the 19th and early 20th century it was an upper class borough, as still testify its magnificent mansions, but afterwards it has been revived as an artistic hotspot, and is famous for its winding, narrow streets. The Santa Teresa Tram (Bonde de Santa Teresa) is a historic tram line currently suspended from service. When it was operational, it connected the city centre with the neighbourhood of Santa Teresa, mainly maintained as a tourist attraction. It has been suspended since 2011, as a result of an accident, but a new fleet of 14 tramcars is being built, the line is being rebuilt, and reopening is projected for 2015, in time for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

0398, 0509, 0862, 1148, 1149 BRAZIL (Paraná) - Iguazú Falls (UNESCO WHS)

Posted on 28.11.2012, 18.02.2013, 15.11.2013, and 18.07.2014
"It is said that many years ago, there was a big and monstrous serpent which lived in the Iguazú river and its name was Boi. Once per year, the guaranies had to sacrifice a beautiful maid as an offer to Boi, by throwing her to the river. All the tribes, including the ones which lived far away, were invited for this ceremony. One year, a young boy whose name was Tarobá, became leader of the tribe. When Tarobá knew the beautiful maid Naipí was the chosen girl for the sacrifice, rebelled to elderly members of the tribe and tried in vain to convince them of not offering her. In order to save Naipí, he decided to kidnap her the night before the sacrifice."

"So he put her on a canoe and escaped by the river. But Boi knew about this; she became furious and her anger was so deep that she vent over her back, split the river forming the falls  catching Naipí and Tarobá. Boi turned Tarobá into trees, that we can observe from the upper circuit, and the long hair of the beautiful Naipí into the falls. Then Boi submerged in the Devil's  Throat and from this place she watches Naipí and Tarobá never come together again... however, on sunny days the rainbow surpasses Boi's  power and join them..."

 

Taller than Niagara Falls, twice as wide with 275 cascades spread in a horsehoe shape over 2.7 kilometres of the Iguazu River, Iguazú Falls (named also Iguassu Falls or Iguaçu Falls; in Portuguese Cataratas do Iguaçu, and in Spanish Cataratas del Iguazú, from the Guarani words for Big Water) is actually the result of a volcanic eruption which left yet another large crack in the earth. Lying on the Argentina - Brazil border, in the place where the Iguazu River tumbles over the edge of the Paraná Plateau, 23 kilometres upriver from the Iguazu's confluence with the Paraná River, it was discovered by the Spanish conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541 (do you remember the fascinating movie The Mission?). In March 1944, when she saw it,  Eleanor Roosevelt exclaimed "Poor Niagara!" It seems to be only a legend, because Eleanor Roosevelt never saw this waterfall (read here), but it is as beautiful as that from the beginning of my post.

 

The waterfall is shared by the Iguazú National Park (Argentina) and Iguaçu National Park (Brazil), the two parks being designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1984 and 1987, respectively, because "conserve one of the largest and most spectacular waterfalls in the world comprised of a system of numerous cascades and rapids and almost three kilometres wide within the setting of a lush and diverse sub-tropical broadleaf forest. The permanent spray from the cataracts forms impressive clouds that soak the forested islands and river banks resulting in a visually stunning and constantly changing interface between land and water."

 

The two parks also "forms the largest single protected remnant of the Paranaense subtropical rainforest, which belongs to the Interior Atlantic Forest. The rich biodiversity includes over 2000 species of plants, 400 species of birds and possibly as many as 80 mammals, as well as countless invertebrate species." In 2011 it was announced as one of the seven winners of the New Seven Wonders of Nature.

1032 BRAZIL - The flag of the country

The Portuguese territories in the Americas, corresponding roughly to what is now Brazil, never had their own flag, since the Portuguese imposed hoisting the flag of their kingdom in all territories of the crown. The first Brazilian vexillological symbols were private maritime flags used by Portuguese merchant ships that sailed to Brazil. In time, the armillary sphere became the unofficial ensign of Brazil. In 1815, Brazil was elevated to the rank of kingdom, and became part of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves, so adopted its flag. After the Declaration of Independence, and with the coronation of Pedro I as Emperor of Brazil, the Royal Standard was modified to become the flag of the Empire of Brazil. In 1889, upon the proclamation of the republic, was adopted the flag which remained unchanged until 1992.

0956 BRAZIL (Mato Grosso) - The female ritual of Yamurikumã

When the Portuguese arrived in South America in the 16th century, Brazil was inhabited by an estimated 2.4 million Amerindians, of more than 2,000 nations and tribes. Massacres, slavery and diseases brought by the Europeans have drastically reduced their number, so that today of the 200 million Brazilians, only about 817.000 classified themselves as indigenous (0.4%). Among these are the Xingu peoples, who live near the river with the same name, a tributary of the Amazon River. The Upper Xingu was heavily populated prior to European contact, but in 1950s only about 500 Xingu peoples were alive. The Villas-Bôas brothers visited the area beginning in 1946 and pushed for creating the Xingu National Park, which was established in 1961. The number of Xingu living here in 32 settlements has risen again to today over 3000 inhabitants, half of them younger than 15 years.

0406, 0407 & 0906 BRAZIL (Federal District) - Brasilia (UNESCO WHS)

Posted on 08.12.2012, and completed on 16.12.2013
I received the first postcard from this post on December 5 (even if the postmark is from December 4), the day that has passed away, at the age of almost 105 years, the architect Oscar Niemeyer, one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture, best known for his design of civic buildings for Brasília, among which is the one from the first picture, housing the National Congress. In the master's obituary,  The Economist wrote: "More than any other individual, Oscar Niemeyer could claim to have created Brazil's image as a self-consciously modern country. Brazil's most famous architect turned the functionalism of Le Corbusier into a sensual minimalism that was at once daring and restrained. His motto was not that form follows function but that form follows beauty. Like the functionalists he worked in reinforced concrete, but found poetry in it. He rejected right angles in favour of the liberated, sensual curves found in the mountains of my country, in the sinuousness of its rivers, in the waves of the ocean, and on the body of the beloved woman - shapes displayed in the stunning setting and bright, clear sunlight of his home city, Rio de Janeiro."

In September 1956, soon after he assumed the Brazilian presidency, Juscelino Kubitschek visited Niemeyer and spoke to the architect about his most audacious scheme: "I am going to build a new capital for this country and I want you to help me […] Oscar, this time we are going to build the capital of Brazil." Niemeyer organized a competition for the lay-out of the new capital, and the winner was the project of his master and great friend, Lúcio Costa. Following, Lúcio designed the plan of the city, and Niemeyer the buildings, such as the residence of the President (Palácio da Alvorada), the House of the deputy, the National Congress of Brazil, the Cathedral of Brasília, diverse ministries, and residential buildings.

Built ex nihilo in only four years, between 1956 and 1960, in the Brazilian Highlands, in the barren center of the country, at hundreds of kilometers from any major city, Brasilia benefited from new concepts of city planning: streets without transit, buildings floating off the ground supported by columns and allowing the space underneath to be free and integrated with nature. Initially, all the city's apartments were owned by the government and rented to its employees, so that the ministers and common laborers have shared the same building. Of course, the next presidents changed this concept.

The National Congress building (the first postcard), located in the middle of the Monumental Axis, the main avenue in Brasília, consists of two semi-spheres (the left one is the seat of the Senate, and the right one is the seat of the Chamber of the Deputies), which have between them two vertical office towers. The design suggests a balance, with two opposing sides intersected by a symbol of equality. The Congress also occupies other surrounding office buildings, some of them interconnected by a tunnel.

The JK Memorial (the second postcard) is a museum opened on September 12, 1981 and dedicated to Juscelino Kubitschek, as I say, the founder of the city of Brasilia. On site are the body of JK, many belongings as his personal library, and photos of him as both his wife Sarah. Featuring works designed by Athos in the outdoor area, a stained glass window designed by artist Marianne Peretti on the vault and a 4.5m sculpture authorship of Honorius Peçanha.

In the third postcard is the Monument to the Candango, known also as Os Guerreiros (The Warriors), a work in bronze of the Italian Brazilian sculptor Bruno Giorgi. It is the centerpiece of Brazil's governmental plaza, Praça dos Três Poderes (Three Powers Plaza), and was erected to pay homage to the thousands of workers who built Brasilia, whose nickname were "candango". The sculpture has become the symbol of the city.

0821 BRAZIL (Paraná) - Curitiba, the Model City

Capital of the Brazilian state of Paraná, Curitiba is the largest city in the prosperous Southern region, and also a cultural, political, and economic center. Founded in 1693 by the Portuguese on a plateau at 932m above sea level, at 105 km west of the sea port of Paranaguá, between cattle-breeding country and marketplaces, the town has developed quite quickly. Between 1850 and 1950, it grew due to logging and agricultural expansion in the Paraná State, and the waves of European immigrants (mainly Germans, Italians, Poles, Russians and Ukrainians) contributed to its economic and cultural development.

0497 & 0758 BRAZIL (Minas Gerais) - Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas (UNESCO WHS)

Posted on 06.02.2013 and completed on 22.07.2013
Some people, when get from life more than they deserved, think should thank to someone, more precisely to give, in one form or another, a part of what they got. In nowadays there are a lot of projects, of "causes", in which they can involve, but some time ago things were much simpler: they contented of divinity, building churches or at least making donations, as allowed him the pocket and the soul. Not a few among the works of art of the past were based on such motivations. Among the people of this type was the Portuguese adventurer Feliciano Mendes, who commissioned in the 18th century (to fulfill a vow made while he was desperately ill) the twelve sculptures of old testament prophets which adorn the forecourt of the Santuário do Bom Jesus do Matosinhos in Congonhas, a Brazilian city located in the state of Minas Gerais. Since 1985 UNESCO included this basilica to the World Heritage Sites list, under the name Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas.

The twelve sculptures don't correspond to the Twelve Minor Prophets, but include some of the Major Prophets and prophets whose works are part of the Old Testament deuterocanon: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Baruch, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Obadiah, Amos, Jonah, Nahum and Habakkuk. On the postcard are three of them: Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Joel (from the foreground to the plan removed). This soapstone sculptures are works of the artist Antônio Francisco Lisboa, commonly known as Aleijadinho. "As has been pointed out on numerous occasions", said UNESCO, "with Aleijadinho, a half-breed born in Vila Rica, Baroque sculpture takes on an aesthetic dimension that is unknown to Europe."

0608 BRAZIL (Santa Catarina) - A Tyrolean settlement in the south of Brazil

No, isn't a mistake! The overwhelming majority of the more than 5,000 inhabitants of Treze Tílias (Dreizehnlinden in German), a municipality located in the state of Santa Catarina, has Austrian ancestors. It was founded on 13 October 1933 by Andreas Thaler, former minister of agriculture in Austria, who managed, despite strong political opposition, to obtain funds and to persuade some impoverished peasant families from Tyrol and Vorarlberg to emigrate in Brazil, where to start a new life. He drowned in circumstances insufficient explained during a flood in 1939, but the emigration continued until 1959, when the Austrian economy has fully recovered.

0546 BRAZIL (Bahia) - "Acarajé as Sold by Baianas", a Brazilian treasure

As I said in a previous post, because today, March 8, is the International Women's Day, I will post four postcards depicting women from four continents. If the first one was from Europe (Macedonia), and the second from Africa (Morroco), the third will be from Americas.

The Brazilian Institute of National Historic and Artistic Patrimony (IPHAN) decided that among the most precious of Brazil's historic, cultural and artistic treasures, together with paintings, buildings, palaces and churches, must to stand also some immaterial treasures (15 so far), like traditional dances, country fairs, methods of making lace, musical instruments, childrens games, and... some special food items. In 2004, IPHAN chose acarajé for this list, but not only the dish itself, but also the way that it is prepared, the traditional clothing of the baianas (the women who sell it on the streets of Salvador, Bahia, mainly in the Historic Centre, named in Portuguese Pelourinho), linked to the rituals of the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomblé (about which I wrote here), and the customary layout of accompaniments on the baianas' streetside tables, called tabuleiros. The traditional costume of the baianas, consists of turban, starched skirt of colourful pattern, shawl over the shoulder - or tied to the breast - bracelets and necklaces, is a symbol of their social and religious status.

510-513 BRAZIL - The Afro-Brazilian religions

Of the more than 193 million inhabitants of Brazil, about half describe themselves as Black (6.84%) or Brown (43.80%), i.e. have mixed ancestry, Europeans, Africans, and Amerindians. Each of these ancestors have come with their own religious beliefs, which during the Portuguese colonization were mixed, leading to the development of a diverse array of syncretistic practices. The Afro-Brazilian religions (as Umbanda, Candomblé, Batuque, Xangô, and Tambor de Mina), originally brought by black slaves shipped from Africa to Brazil, have even now many followers, concentrated mainly in large urban centers in the Northeast, such as Salvador, Recife, or Rio de Janeiro in the Southeast. These cults were persecuted throughout most of Brazilian history, because they were believed to be pagan or even satanic, but the republican government legalized all of them on the grounds of the separation between the State and the Church in 1889.

The Afro-Brazilian religions are based on the mythology, and the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practices of the Yoruba people, one of the largest ethnic groups of Native-Africa, who occupies parts of the modern states of Nigeria, Benin and Togo. Umbanda blends African religions with Catholicism, Spiritism, and considerable indigenous lore, while the others are based in the anima (soul) of the natural environment, the rituals involving the possession of the initiated by Orishas (spirits or deities that reflects one of the manifestations of God), offerings and sacrifices of the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdom, healing, dancing/trance, and percussion.

Because the religion developed semi-independently in different regions, among different ethnic groups, it evolved into several sects or nations (nações), distinguished by the set of worshiped deities, as well as the music and language used in the rituals. This division was influenced by the beneficent brotherhoods (irmandades) of Brazilian slaves organized by the Catholic Church in the 18th and 19th centuries. Candomblé temples are called houses (casas), plantations (roças), or yards (terreiros), the priesthood being organized into symbolic families. Each family owns and manages one house. In most Candomblé houses, the head of the family is a woman, the mãe-de-santo or ialorixá (mother-of-saint), seconded by the pai-de-santo or babalorixá (father-of-saint). According to Mapeamento dos Terreiros de Salvador, only in this city are 1,155 terreiros.

The Yoruba theogony enjoys a large Pantheon of Orishas, but I will mention only those who appear in my postcards:

● Xangô (Shangó, Ṣàngó, Changó, Chango, Nago Shango, Sogbo, Kibuco) - Lord of Justice; divinity of lightning, thunder, fire, sky father, represents male power and sexuality. Historically, he is a royal ancestor of the Yoruba, being the third king of the Oyo Kingdom prior to his posthumous deification.
Sincretism: Saint Jerome
Salutation: Kawô Kabiesilé
Day: Wednesday
Colors: red and white
Sign: Sagittarius
Instrument: oxé (two sided hatchet)

● Ossain (Ossaim, Ossanha, Ossanhê, Catende) - Lord of Magic Potions; the physician of African Religions, the owner of the medicinal plants, who releases the magical property of the leaves. The legend says that Oya (the god that controls the winds) shook her skirt and scattered the leaves, so other Orishas got some, but in general, they belong to Ossain. Ossain has a leg amputated, so he dances into one leg.
Sincretism: Saint Joseph (but also Saint Jude and Saint Kitts, according to other sources)
Salutation: Eu Eô (Ewé ó or Eueu)
Day: Saturday (or Thursday, according to other sources)
Colors: green and yellow, and the mixture of these, resulting a pale green
Instrument: seven iron spears with a dove on top

● Yemanjá (Yemojá, Yemonja, Yemalla, Yemana, Ymoja, Iemanjá, Janaína, Dandalunda) - Mother of the sea and the most of the other Orishas; she is the ocean, the patron deity of the fishermen and the survivors of shipwrecks, the feminine principle of creation, the spirit of moonlight, the essence of motherhood, and a protector of children.
Sincretism: Nossa Senhora dos Navegantes (Our Lady of Navigators)
Celebration (in Salvador, Bahia): December 8, the Festa da Conceição da Praia (Feast to Our Lady of Conception of the church at the beach)
Salutation: Odoiyá
Day: Friday
Colors: silver transparent, blue, and white
Instrument: Abebé (a silver fan)

● Obá (Ọba, Obbá) - Goddess of rivers, which figuratively represents the flow of time and life, but also goddess of love. She is traditionally identified as the first wife of Shango. She cutting off her ear to serve to her husband as food, because one of her co-wives has convinced her that this will secure Shango's attention. Once Shango sees the ear and realizes Obá has mutilated herself, he chases her from his house and into permanent exile.
Sincretism: Nossa Senhora das Neves (Our Lady of the Snows)
Salutation: Obá Xirê
Day: Saturday
Colors: red and white
Sign: Virgo
Instrument: spear and shield