Recife - History

When the Portuguese captain Duarte Coelho arrived to these shores, in 1535, he made two mistakes: firstly, he baptised his new possession as "Nova Lusitania" (New Portugal), an homage to his homeland - instead, that land would become source of several rebellions against the Portuguese domain. Pernambuco, " Pierced Sea ", in the Indian language, that is how that place would be named. Secondly, Duarte Coelho did not give much importance to that flat, mud covered land, full of manglers, estuary of countless rivers and streams. He preferred to create a settlement over the hills and named it "Olinda" (How Beautiful), from where the coast (and the invaders) could be better appreciated. Well, at least that reef barrier provided a good natural harbour, thus the village of Arrecifes (Reefs) was founded in 1548. the sugar cane plantations grew fast in Pernambuco: a small but wealthy Portuguese "court" was soon installed in Olinda. So much abundance attracted the attention of the Dutches, whom where dedicated to various practices in the centuries XVI and XVII, such as commerce, piracy and invasions in general. Thus, in 1630, 70 ships, 7000 men and 200 cannons disembarked in the coast of Pernambuco, in the beach of "Pau Amarelo", to the north of Olinda. As their first step to threat the Portuguese, they set Olinda on fire, in 1631. With the capital burned to the bone, they had to look for another place to settle. To the dutches, certainly no place would remember more their native land than that little village below sea level, now rebaptised as Recife. Of course, the new court had to be accommodated, then more space had to be taken from the waters. Rivers were then drained, manglars were covered with earth, bridges were built. The head of this transformation would arrive at Brazil in 1637: the Dutch prince Johann Mauritius van Nassau-Siegen (in Portuguese, Mauricio de Nassau), commander of the dutch troops and general governor of the province. In love in the place, he decided to build there his personal dream of city: Mauritiustadt (Mauritius City), projected by the architect Pieter Post, brother of the painter Frans Post. The first bridge was constructed in 1643, called (what a coincidence!) Nassau Bridge. Other bridges were built (nowadays, there are 39, only in downtown), two palaces, several churches and streets. But the source of founds, actually the Company of Western Indians, had no plans to turn Recife into a metropolis, but to obtain profits with the sugar cane plantations. As a result, they became "slightly" upset with prince Mauritius, and called him in return to Holland, in 1644. Without Mauricio de Nassau, soon ceased the parties, feasts and the lavish loans to the locals. Instead, the collections of debts was started. All in a sudden the Portuguese found that it was time to banish the invaders.

The Brazilian Army is Born: the Portuguese resistance to the to the dutch invaders was tenuous. Initially only the harbour offered some resistance, protected by the forts of Saint Jorge and Saint Francisco. ) and offered certain resistance. Then the resistance members searched for shelter in the countryside, building a fortress named "Arraial of the Good Jesus". There the Portuguese resisted for five years, until 8 of June of 1635. During the government of Mauricio de Nassau, the Portuguese resistance was little or null. After his return to Holland, when debts started to be collected, the local elite decided to banish the invaders, in a rebellion called "Insurreicao Pernambucana". Very interesting is the fact that this rebellion initially had no support from the portuguese Crown. As a matter of fact, the portuguese diplomats were busy at the time trying to sell the Brazilian Northeast to Holland. Having as leader Mr. Joao Fernandes Vieira, the rebellion obtained important victories against the Dutches: in 1645, the battles of "Monte das Tabocas" and "Engenho de Casa Forte". But the definitive victory would come after the two battles of the Mount of the Guararapes (in the neighbouring city of Jaboatao), in 1648 and 1649. This place today is considered the cradle of the Brazilian army. The complete withdrawal of the dutch troops would still be delayed: at 27 of January of 1654 the Portuguese would finally reconquer Recife. In 6 of August of 1661, in exchange for an indemnity of eight million guilders, the dutches signed an agreement with Portugal, resigning to any further pretension on Brazilian lands.

Fight Between Sisters: the seed of development planted by the dutches germinated in Recife. Step by step the city, home of small traders and pedlars, would supplant the former capital Olinda, home of the nobility and traditional gentlemen. The jealousy between the sister cities hit the apogee with the "Guerra dos Mascates" (war of the pedlars), in 1710.

Revolt is in the Blood: the revolutionary spirit contaminated the blood of the "Recifenses". The Pernambuco's capital would be scenery of several revolts, as the "Revolucao de 1817 e a "Confederacao do Equator", in 1824. Ahead of both was Frei Caneca, catholic monk executed by shooting due to his libertarian ideals. More recently, the same ideals would guide the work of D. Helder Camara, archbishop of Olinda and Recife: his calm and tame voice was the most powerful instrument to fight against the atrocities committed by the military dictatorship in Brazil during the Sixties and Seventies.