Leaving Rio de Janeiro on the 18th February was a relief. I was nervous about visiting the city before I got there after hearing so many stories of crime and violence, especially against tourists. I was crushingly disappointed when we got there only to discover a third world city that has very little to offer. Things could only get better. We were not to travel very far – just 65km North, by terrifying bus journey, to the old capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Petropolis.
Named after Brazil’s second and final Emperor, Dom Pedro II, Petropolis, or city of Peter, is a popular summer vacation spot for holiday makers from the big cities on the coast. The city was founded in 1720, when the Caminho do Ouro, or Gold Trail shifted its destination from Paraty to Rio de Janeiro due to privateering on the Atlantic. Petropolis was a perfect stopping-off point for travellers on the Gold Trail in the alpine mountains amid the dangerous, hot and humid Atlantic rainforest. In fact, the climate is so temperate that it was this that made Dom Pedro I (in 1830) purchase the Corrego Seco Farm and start building his summer palace here. Nicknamed The Imperial City, Petropolis was built with money. Lots of money. Palaces and churches were huge beneficiaries of one of the largest and richest gold mines in the history of the world, and even after the overthrow of the Emperor Dom Pedro II and the creation of the First Brazilian Republic in 1889, many heads of state have used Petropolis as a summer residency.
Petropolis was home to our fourth accommodation whilst in Brazil, and, ironically, we found that it was far from temperate as we had decided to try out a slightly cheaper option in the form of Hostel Petropolis. Cheaper accommodation in this instance meant no A/C – only a weak-ass fan that serves to only move hot air around the room. Our room was hot and humid – all the things that would have sent Dom Pedro running away in his gold-plated carriage, all the way back to Rio and the coastal winds.
However, Petropolis is not the biggest city in the world, and so our hostel did win points for a fairly good location. So, after a hot night with only a fitful sleep, we decided to head out and explore.
Built in 1879, the Palacio de Cristal, or Crystal Palace, was built in Imperial times to showcase flowers of the region. Built by the French originally to house orchids, it was given and shipped to Brazil where it now stands in a well kept park. Essentially a huge greenhouse, but I enjoyed the fountain in the park which was extremely cooling in the 33C heat (91F).
Next we opportunistically visited the Palacio Rio Negro, which ironically became the ultimate symbol of The First Republic after it was built in 1889 by the Rio Negro Baron, Manuel Gomes de Carvalho. Once the Baron had given Brazil up to move to France in 1894, and during a period of political unrest in the capital of Rio de Janeiro, the state government moved their HQ here from 1896 until 1903. Since then, the habit of spending summer months in Petropolis that was started by father and son Emperors Dom Pedro Jr. and Dom Pedro Sr. has been continued by Brazilian presidents, a tradition which still lasts to this day (when required). President Getúlio Vargas, who was Brazil’s dictator after the Revolution of 1930, stayed in the palace every summer for the whole 18 years he was in office. It was only when the capital moved from Rio to Brasilia in 1960 that usage of the palace massively declined. The gardens are just as well kept here as the gardens of the Crystal Palace, although the house itself seemed to have the typical Brazilian wear and tear. Not the first time in Brazil that we have seen the signs that the country has seen it’s heyday; now reduced to crumbling architecture accompanied by a complex histrionic hard luck story.
Filled with pictures of the presidents who visited the palace, along with their furniture, it was fun to see where they would have entertained international guests, and gone about the important business of the day. Even more fun to loudly try the handle of a door that advises sem entrada, or ‘no entry’, and then have 3 guards suspiciously follow you around for the duration of the rest of your visit! And yes, I did know what sem entrada meant BEFORE I tried the handle. Just curious.
After thoroughly embarrassing Francesca at the Rio Negro Palace, we set off for some sanctuary and a seat. What better way to get a good seat than at a church? Often well ventilated, nice to look at, with a bit of history attached and almost always free, churches are a staple of travellers the world over. We always see them on tourist brochures – churches, synagogues, temples, etc. – and I even have a favorite church which is in Brazil now (although not in Petropolis). With so many ties to Christianity in Latin America’s history, it would be foolish to not recognize the churches as they are today, even if Benjamin Franklin did say that ‘lighthouses are more helpful then churches’. Besides, with the free seat and good ventilation, it is the perfect place to lament the use of so much gold in the building of these awe-inspiring and so obviously manipulative architectures; rather than, say, using it to feed and clothe the very poor who need it most.
The Cathedral Sao Pedro de Alcantara (Cathedral of Saint Peter of Alcantara), is an impressive building. Construction started in the reign of Dom Pedro II and continued after his overthrow until 1901. Unfinished, there were further works in the 20’s, 30’s and 60’s. It was in 1925, over thirty years after his death in exile, in Paris; that Dom Pedro II was entombed in the church’s sacristy. Ironically, it was the dictator Vargas, in 1939, who inaugurated the Mausoléu Imperial or Imperial Mausoleum. To do all of this, Brazil, in 1920, had to annul a law barring the Imperial family from Brazil. The Mausoleum then is truly a strong symbol of Brazil’s Republic having completely taken control from the Imperialists. We sat and rested on the wooden pews, cooling down in the shade and breeze of the church. With its high beamed ceiling and beautiful stained glass windows, we got, perhaps, what Dom Pedro and his father wanted all along: a free seat free from the hot weather.
The final stop we planned in Petropolis was the Imperial Palace, now the Imperial Museum. Before being inaugurated as a museum, but after the formation of the Republic, the palace was turned into a school. Nowadays only tourists visit the building, and, to protect the floor, we had to wear oversize slippers over our sandals/shoes. Luckily no evidence exists of this as they do not allow photography…We did get to snap a few pictures of the garden though – a favorite meditation venue for Dom Pedro II.
Out of the 44 rooms on two levels, most of the objects kept and maintained by the museum were pictures and owned items of the Imperial family. The main attraction was Dom Pedro II’s crown, which was encrusted (the word always used with gems) with 639 diamonds and 77 pearls. Also in this room were the Emperor’s robes that had a throat made from toucan feathers. Makes me wonder if we will see any in the amazon, or whether they have been hunted to near extinction. This was a great museum to spend an hour or so in – lots of signs in English (which is a massive issue in Brazil), good information and interesting objects. I’m not sure if the objects were fake or not – I don’t think so, but Brazil is no stranger to smoke and mirrors fakeness. Dom Pedro II commissioned many German immigrant farmers to move into the area of Petropolis in the 19th Century. They bought with them their own European styles which gave the region a faux European charm. We got to see for ourselves later on how this aesthetic look and feel is extremely important in Brazil – from the church, to the Imperials through to present day Brasilia – newly formed capital of Brazil.
We only spent one full day in Petropolis, but following the Gold Trail in the opposite direction to the flow of gold; from Paraty and Rio back through Petropolis has really revealed Brazil’s colonial and Imperial history to us. After Petropolis we travelled to the state of Minas Gerais (General Mines), where the Brazilian Gold Rush of 1690 started the huge influx of migrants to the region, making it the most important area in the world for Portugal at the time. Read about it in my next blog post which is all about a little town called Ouro Preto…
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