The first official mention of the city occurs in connection with the second
Portuguese exploratory expedition, commanded by Gaspar de Lemos, to the new
land which had been discovered by Pedro Alvares Cabral in 1500. On arrival
in the month of January, Lemos understandably thought that Rio de Janeiro’s
bay was the mouth of a river, and named the region accordingly: River of
January. Later on, in 1519, Fernão de Magalhães called in at
the port during his circumnavigation of the globe. But it was only in 1530
that the Portuguese court sent an expedition to actually colonize the land,
instead of merely using it as a staging post for overseas adventures. However,
the French had been in Rio de Janeiro and the surrounding area since the
turn of the century, and did not give up the land without a fight. By 1560,
after a series of skirmishes, the Portuguese expelled the French.
The city started to take shape on the Morro de São Januário,
later known as the Morro do Castelo, and later in what is still the
nerve centre of the city, Praça Quinze. In 1585 its population
numbered 3,850, of whom 750 were Portuguese and 100 African.
Rio de Janeiro’s undeniable natural vocation as a port ensured
its continued development.
At the same time that gold was discovered in the state of Minas Gerais
(which translates as General Mines), at the end of the seventeenth century,
the Governor of Brazil became the Viceroy. Salvador was, at that time,
the capital of the colony, but the increased importance of Rio’s
port ensured that the seat of power was transferred south to the city
which would be the intellectual and cultural centre of the country right
up until the present day.
The next leap in the development of the city took place from 1808,
when the Portuguese royal family chose Rio de Janeiro as their refuge
from the threat of Napoleonic invasion. By the time the royal family
returned to Portugal and Brazilian independence had been declared in
1822, the gold mines had been exhausted and had given way to another
treasure: coffee.
The city’s development continued through most of the 1800s, its
tentacles feeling first northwards, to São Cristóvao and
Tijuca and then south, through Glória, Flamengo and Botafogo
to the south zone. But by 1889, the abolition of slavery and poor harvests
halted progress. This period of social and political unrest led to the
Proclamation of the Republic. Rio, now referred to as the Federal District,
remained the political hub and capital of the country.
Despite its continuous metamorphoses, the city remained something of
a colonial backwater until the early 1900s, when wide streets were built
and impressive, palatial buildings were erected, mainly in the French
fin-de-siècle style. Rio de Janeiro held its ground until Brasília
was inaugurated as the capital of the republic in 1960. Despite the
loss of the diplomatic representations and government offices, Rio de
Janeiro, now the t.capital of the State of Rio de Janeiro, remains the
cultural and social centre of the country.
Crédito: Riotur
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