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 RECIFE & OLINDA
History
Recife was founded by Duarte Coelho, in 1537, but he wasn't interested in
the land at the beginning because they were in a very precarious situation with many swamps and mouths of rivers. Then he decided to go
to Olinda which was located in a higher place. However, Recife was a port. In this port lived the fishermen called "arrecifes",
while Olinda was a principal city.
The city of Recife began to be used for the extraction of Pau-Brasil (a
type of tree) and for the cultivation of the sugar-cane. Rapidly the sugar-cane developed, making Olinda rich and luxurious because
that was where the mill owners lived. But the beauty and the wealth of the city called the attention of the dutch.
In 1630, the dutch landed in Pernambuco, on the Pau-Amarelo Beach, north
of Olinda, and began to extend their dominion over a large part of the Northern Coast. The military commander of the captaincy of
Pernambuco tried to resist the dutch troops but was defeated. Then, the mill owners gave up trying to fight against the dutch because
they were interested in selling sugar and with the dutch there, it would be easier to reach their goals.
In 1631, the dutch set fire to Olinda to defeat the portuguese. With
the fire, the population of Olinda installed themselves in Recife and there wasn't enough room for all of them in the port. The dutch
decided to drain the rivers and put dirt in the swamp to get more room. The administration of the dutch colony was in charge of the West
Indian Company. In order to gain the confidence of the mill owners, the company offered loans to reconstruct their properties and
proposed peace.
In 1637, Maurício de Nassau arrived in Brazil. He was commander of the
dutch troops and general governor of the province, nominated by the West India Company. Nassau transformed the city of Recife,
constructed bridges, the most famous one was named "Ponte de Nassau" (Nassau Bridge), improved the sanitary conditions,
churches, streets and built two palaces. He brought scientist and artists which decorated the city, like the painter Frans Post who,
with the help of other professionals, urbanized Recife.
Everything was beautiful in Recife and it could be compared to a
"marvelous city" until the moment when the company decided to force the mill owners to produce more, increased the taxs,
charged old overdue debts and confiscated land that hadn't been paid for. The transformation of Recife into a metropolis wasn't
exactly the idea of the Company, they wanted more profit with the sugar-cane plantations. Since Nassau was against this atitude, he
was fired.
Recife, in the 18th Century, became a more developed
economical center than Olinda. All the wealth of Olinda was passed on to Recife since the dutch concentrated in Olinda started
to work and to develop the culture in Recife.
A large number of revolts began to appear in the 18th and
19th Centuries, but the principal ones were the Inserreição Pernambucana, the Guerra dos Mascates, the Revolução Republicana
de Pernambuco and the Confederação de Equador. The capital of the State of Pernambuco was transferred to Recife in 1827.
Today, Pernambuco is known for its foklore rythms, the mains ones are
Frevo, Xaxado and the Maracatu. The city portrays the beauty of its history. |
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