The South Brazil, a hidden gem
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| Greenhouse of the Curitiba's Botanical Garden, among the several landscapes in the city. Crédito da foto Wikimedia Commons. |
What's the first place that comes up to your mind when you hear the word "Brazil"? Rio de Janeiro, right? Have you ever heard about Curitiba, Florianópolis or Porto Alegre? They are capital cities in the South Region, each one special for something whether culture, tourism or even to live. Of course, there are several interesting places in each one of the States, but talking about these three, for now, is a pretty good start.
Porto Alegre - RS
The most south capital in the country, the city is rich in history, especially because the State (nowadays named as Rio Grande do Sul) was a country apart from Brazil also known as República de Piratini or República Rio-Grandense.
In Brazilian history, the State was a place for several battles and revolutions so, there are many historical places, museums and monuments to remember the past. Names of heroes from Rio Grande do Sul are honoured in the whole country like the emblematic woman called Anita Garibaldi, for example. She fought in the Revolução Farroupilha (or Guerra dos Farrapos) beside her husband, Giuseppe Garibaldi (Anita was a Portuguese descendant, and Giuseppe, an Italian man), for the independence of the State from the Empire's hands, in order to install a Republic. Amongst the most important revolutions in Brazil, it has influenced many other revolutions.
Nowadays, PoA (the way people call Porto Alegre for short) is considered amongst the best capitals to live, work, study, have fun and do business according to 80 prizes it wins in the last years. It was also spotted by UN in 2010 as the #1 metropolis in matters of quality of life.
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| Piratini Palace, the government headquarters of Rio Grande do Sul State. Picture from Wikimedia Commons. |
Florianópolis - SC
The State of Santa Catarina, in the middle of the region, is very well known by its beaches, beautiful cities, German colonization and much more things. Florianópolis, its capital, is an island connected to the continent by bridges and it is a very famous touristic spot in the country.
Full of resorts especially for the high profile tourists, there are many other options for the regular ones who don't want to spend much or who are looking for something non-traditional. You can be interested, for example, in the Praia da Galheta (Galheta's Beach) where people are... like Brazilians say... the way they came to the world (do jeito que vieram ao mundo). In right words: naked! Or even the Praia Mole, very famous for being a gay spot.
For the last, maybe the most beautiful place to see is the Hercilio Luz Bridge, the greatest suspension bridge of the country and the first way to the island. However, due to structural problems, it is closed since 1991. Its design is similar to the Silver Bridge over Ohio River in the USA, collapsed in 1967. It is still illuminated by night so, it's a mandatory spot to see there.
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| Hercilio Luz Bridge by night. Picture from Wikimedia Commons. |
Curitiba - PR
The Ecological Capital of Brazil with dozens of parks, millions of square meters of green areas and the most well-preserved piece of Atlantic Forest in the whole country. Curitiba is also famous by the efficient transportation system (which was also adopted by the New York city in some places), the urban planning, the cleanliness of the streets and city's organization. The people, despite having the fame of cold and quiet, are very polite and open to the visit of foreigners that are kinda common.
The cultural side of Curitiba is shown in the several Teather Festivals, orchestra presentations and many other ethnic events like food fairs, folkloric presentations and a very plural peoples, bringing to the city colours from several cultures of the foreigners who arrived here so many decades ago.
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| Japan Square in celebration of the Japanese immigration. Picture from Wikimedia Commons. |
It'd be impossible to talk about the capitals of these 3 southern States of Brazil with the important facts involved in its foundation or that matters for visitors in a short text like this, so, it is based upon facts that call the attention at first even for Brazilians' eyes.
If you are keen about any of these places, try to Google the names of cities and States to know better, or you can contact us by contato@brasilipino.com for more information.
The work of Blog Oficial do Instituto Brasilipino para integração das culturas Brasileira e Asiática of Giovani Fernandes is licensed under a Creative Commons - Atribuição 4.0 Internacional License.
Based upon the work avaiable in https://brasilipino.blogspot.com/.
