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Published: January 22nd 2016
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Wednesday January 20th, 2016. Ilheus, Bahia, Brazil
Ilheus is a popular city located in the southern coastal region of Bahia State. It has a population approx 220,943. It is located approximately 211 km (131 miles) south of Salvador which is the state's capital. The city of Ilheus was originally founded in 1534 as Vila de Sao Jorge dos Ilheus and is now known as one of the most important tourism centres of north-eastern Brazil. This was a little unbelievable however as when we asked for a map at the tourist office they didn't have any!
The city's economy is mainly based on tourism. This is because of the beaches and culture with early Portuguese colonial buildings and history which appeals to Brazilians and foreigners alike. It was once one of the biggest exporters of cocoa beans. Ilheus was a sleepy place until cocoa was introduced into the region from Belem in 1881. With the sugar plantations hidden in the doldrums, agricultural workers and escaped slaves flocked here from all over the north east. In the early 1990's the 'witches broom' disease left the cocoa trees shrivelled and unable to bear fruit, destroying the economy of
the area. Though the disease persists to this day, you can still see rural cocoa workers in the tropical hills around the city.
The coastline around Ilheus is broken up by 5 rivers and a series of lagoons, bays and waterways. Much of the town is modern. The heart of the town is on a small hill overlooking one of the largest and finest looking beaches in the state. Surfing is one of the main pastimes here. After queueing for the shuttle bus for over half an hour in the stifling heat we were dropped off in Rui barbosa Square. The square is dominated by the Sao Sebastian Cathedral which was designed by Solomon Silveira. Construction began in 1931 and it was dedicated in 1967. The Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ilheus. Also on the square is the Vesuvio Restaurant which is featured in the novel Gabriela, Cravo e Canela (Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon)written by the famous Brazilian author, Jorge Amado, who hails from Ilheus. This bar was opened at the end of the 1920's and was frequented by cocoa farmers.
We continued up the main drag passing some
living statues - who were brilliant until we came to Jorge Amado's Culture House. The Casa de Jorge Amado is where the great writer lived with his parents while writing his first novel It has now been restored and turned into a museum honouring his life. Not many writers cccan boast this sort of recognition while still alive, but he became a national treasure well before his death in 2001. Amado is the best known and most popular writer in Brazil. Hew wrote over 25 novels which have been translated into 48 languages and was on the bestseller list in 52 different countries. he was a writer of the modernist school. He was born in a fam in the inland city of itabuna in Bahia. Some of his works portrayed life and customs in the north-eastern region of Braizil. These novels were the aforementioned Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon and Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands. The plots of these novels reflected the poor urban and rural black communities of Bahia and also the land wars that went on in Ilheus where cocoa barons killed each other for power and plantations. We took a snap of the house and M had
her photo taken with a statue of the great man but we didn't bother with the museum.
We continued on until we came to the Paranagua Palace which is a historic building in the city and houses the Government offices. The palace is named after the president of the Bahia province of the Empire era. The palace is one of the symbols of wealth that existed in the region during the cocoa saga. It is reputedly one of the most beautiful buildings in the state. Near the palace, in a small square, is Sappho's Statue. This statue was bought at auction by mayor Mario Pessoa between 1924 and 1928 and is the only Sappho's Statue in South America. Sappho was a Greek poetess, born on Lesbos
Island and lived between the 7th and 6th century BC. She was exiled to Sicily for political reasons or simply for getting married. She was the first woman to claim equal rights for men and women in a Greece where it was only privileged those men who were dedicated to philosophy. She was married to Cerlaysa- a really rich dude and had one daughter. She was dean of a girls
school where she taught music and poetry. While she was alive she achieved fame and recognition for her poetry, songs and epigrams.
M bought a notepad and then we went to a bar to post some blogs. The internet facilities in Brazil are terrible. In Ilheus they still had internet cafe's with old fashioned tower computers in booths. Wi-Fi was a rarity. The bar we found had Wi-Fi but it was incredibly slow. We didn't even manage to post up to Recife.
After dinner we went to watch Buddy Brilliant where Rob celebrated the music of Buddy Holly. We gave the Pauline Daniels show a miss as we saw it last year on the West Indies cruise.
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