Cantagalo, Rio de Janeiro

Cantagalo
Cantagalo
Municipality
	UTC-02:00 (BRST)

Cantagalo (Portuguese pronunciation:

Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. The population is 20,168 (2020 est.) in an area of 749 km².^[4]

Its elevation is 391 m (1,283 ft).

History

Colonization of Cantagalo began in 1755, when Portuguese nobleman Manoel Henriques, Duke of Terso and a clandestine gold miner, left the state of Minas Gerais in search of unexplored riches. Henriques and his group erected a settlement^{[citation needed]} on a small tributary of the Parahyba approximately 80 miles (129 km) northwest of Rio^[2] and began exploring along the local rivers. It was originally known as Sertões de Macacu after the nearby Macacu River.^{[citation needed]}

By 1784, the settlement had grown to accommodate approximately 200 houses. This growth caught the attention of the Portuguese rulers of Brazil, who had a

rooster crow") was inspired by the circumstances of his capture. A troop was about to return to their camp after a day of searching in vain around the woods, when a soldier heard the crowing of a rooster nearby and decided to further explore the area. One of Henriques's men was found in a clearing in the woods and, in exchange for his release, revealed the whereabouts of the rest of the group. Henriques was deported to Africa in dishonour.^{[citation needed}

]

By 1786, the settlement's name had been officially changed from Sertões de Macacu to Cantagalo. In 1814, Cantagalo was officially recognized by Emperor Pedro I as a municipality and in October 1857, was officially elevated to the category of city.^{[citation needed]} By the mid-19th century, the area's gold was played out and the settlement came to depend on agriculture.^[2] Corn, coffee, and sugarcane plantations covered several acres of highly fertile land.^{[citation needed]}

Before the

eponymous railway.^[3]

Nowadays, the city's economic activities still revolve around agriculture, with the exploration of

calcareous rock for the cement industry also playing a strong role. Some of the largest cement manufacturers in Brazil have facilities in Cantagalo.^{[citation needed}

]

Notable residents

The financial journalist

Jose Carlos Rodrigues

was the son of a coffee planter of Cantagallo, and born there in 1844. Brazilian writer Euclides da Cunha, was born in Cantagalo on January 15, 1886. One of the city's districts is named Euclidelândia, in his homage. Brazilian football player Jairo Da Silva, was born in Cantagalo, Rio de Janeiro. He is the most notable football player of the town. Now he is playing in Pafos FC.

Notes

^ IBGE 2020
^ ^a ^b ^c EB (1878).
^ ^a ^b EB (1911).
^ Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística.

References

Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878), "Cantagallo" , Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 5 (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, p. 27
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911), "Cantagallo" , Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 5 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 208