Viçosa is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Minas Gerais. Its population was estimated at 79,910 inhabitants.
It is a city essentially oriented to education, with emphasis on the Federal University of Viçosa, founded in 1926 by the president of the Republic Artur da Silva Bernardes, who was born in Viçosa. It also possesses other private higher education institutions, emphasizing the educational character of the city. It is a city that attracts many people from Brazil and other countries due to scientific and academic events that take place around the university, totaling approximately 500 annual events.
History
Foundation
Before colonization, the Piranga River basin region was inhabited by the indigenous Aimoré and Purí people, who with the Tamoios belonged to the Tupi group. Although traversed by some bandeirantes in the seventeenth century, it remained occupied by natives until then.
The white European settlement of the region began in the eighteenth century in the settlements located on the banks of the Caminho Novo (New Path) – a road opened by the colonial government for gold to be taken straight from the Minas region to Rio de Janeiro, shortening the route and maintaining its monopoly, which was previously through the Mantiqueira Mountains, passing through the Serra do Mar and the Ilha Grande bay, on the São Paulo coast, only then reach Rio de Janeiro. This settlement happened tentatively at first, since the Portuguese Crown prohibited the occupation of the region.
With the decline of the gold production in Minas Gerais, several explorers and their families moved from the mining towns to the Zona da Mata. This region was considered an agricultural frontier, without large white European housing settlements, until the first half of the eighteenth century.
The current northern region of Zona da Mata would be populated by white Europeans with the incentive of the governor of the captaincy of Minas, who, around 1781, distributed to this privileged population hundreds of dedicated to the search for gold. The population was strongly boosted throughout the nineteenth century by the expansion of coffee farming. Besides this, other economic activities developed, such as trade and other services associated with its cultivation, still under the regime of enslavement of black and indigenous people.
The white European occupation of Viçosa began properly in the nineteenth century. On March 8, 1800, Father Francisco José da Silva obtained permission from the bishop of Mariana – Friar Cipriano – to erect a hermitage in honor of Saint Rita of Cascia, where the chapel of Our Lord of Passos is situated today on Passos Street, center of the district headquarters; the region became the patrimony of Saint Rita of Cascia. The construction of the chapel is the starting point of the process of occupation carried out by the Catholic Church, to the detriment of other religious manifestations, which would become the town of Santa Rita do Turvo – the toponym of the hermitage that marked the town's founding plus the name of the main river that crosses the town, Turvo.
In 1813, as the settlement grew, it was decided to construct a new Catholic church on the site of today's Praça Silviano Brandão. The construction of a new Catholic church to the patron saint in another place caused the axis of urban expansion to move towards a flatter area, near the Ribeirão São Bartolomeu valley, with better conditions to erect new buildings, favoring the growth of the town .
On October 13, 1831, the current town of Rio Pomba, from Viçosa, was elevated to the category of village, passing Santa Rita do Turvo to become one of its 14 initial districts (in 1837 there were 20).
The initial layout of the city center changed little over time, even with the local expansion and creation of new streets. However, by the end of the nineteenth century, the territory of Santa Rita do Turvo was significantly divided. The town was divided into three regions: the Patrimony of Santa Rita (Rita of Cascia), in Rua dos Passos; the Patrimony of the Mother Church, where the current sanctuary and the block between the Senador Vaz de Mello and Artur Bernardes streets, Rosário Square, going from São Bartolomeu Stream to Conceição Stream; and the Patrimony of San Francisco which covered the area where the Dr. Cristóvão Lopes de Carvalho Square, Padre Serafim Street and the Dom Viçoso Cemetery are currently located.
According to José Mário Rangel, on July 14, 1832, the District of Santa Rita do Turvo separated from the Parish of Pomba and became a parish. On August 31, 1833, the Parish of Santa Rita was founded, which at the time was also a political division. In 1851 the first mother church was inaugurated, built on the old necropolis that was in front of the chapel located in what is today the Praça Silviano Brandão, with its demolition after the construction was completed.
As a result of Provincial Law No. 1,871, of September 30, 1871, Santa Rita do Turvo was elevated to a village of the same name. It was composed then of five districts: Santa Rita do Turvo (seat), São Sebastião dos Aflitos de Arrepiados and Curato de Coimbra (separated from the municipality of Ubá), São Miguel do Anta (separated from Ponte Nova) and Barra do Bacalhao (separated from Mariana). The village was elevated to the category of city, municipality, effectively three years later (June 3, 1876), with the name of Viçosa de Santa Rita, in honor of the seventh Bishop of Mariana, Dom Antônio Ferreira Viçoso. On January 22, 1873, the installation of the municipality took place, with the inauguration of the building to be the headquarters of the city hall and jail on the site of the current property number 136 of the Praça Silviano Brandão, on the right corner with Rua dos Passos. The city hall began operations on April 12, 1877, when Brazil was still ruled by Dom Pedro II. Its first president was councilman who later became senator of the Empire.
By Provincial Law No. 3171, of October 18, 1883, and State Law No. 2, of September 14, 1891, the district of Santo Antônio dos Teixeiras was created and attached to the municipality of Viçosa de Santa Rita. By Provincial Law 3387, of July 10, 1886, the district of São Sebastião dos Aflitos de Arrepiados was renamed São Sebastião do Erval. By State Decree No. 227, of November 6, 1890, and State Law No. 2, of September 14, 1891, the district of São Vicente do Grama was created and attached to the municipality of Viçosa de Santa Rita.
On December 21, 1885, during the administration of Artur Bernardes, the then president of the city council of Viçosa for two legislatures, Carlos Vaz de Mello, managed through political influence to have the railroad arrive in Viçosa. The arrival of the "iron train" of the Leopoldina Railway, whose station was from Viçosa – at what is now called Estação Velha or Estação de Silvestre – was the landmark of the arrival of developmental progress to the city.
In 1911 the municipality would be called simply Viçosa. The distance from the train station to the city center made it difficult to board and disembark passengers, since it was only possible to get there by ox cart, carriages and other means. This situation lasted for almost 30 years, until the Leopoldina station was transferred to the city center, and its inauguration took place on August 21, 1914, when the local population had already reached two thousand inhabitants. From there the city was finally linked to the capital of the country, Rio de Janeiro. With the construction of the railway station near the central part of the city, consolidated by the construction of the new Mother Church of Saint Rita, the center expanded, and in its surroundings commerce, hotels and new residences, mainly of eclectic design, began to be established. The growth around the railway station is a common pattern among the cities of Zona da Mata, Minas Gerais.
With this new connection between the city of Viçosa and the coast, the first families who would form the Lebanese and Italian colony arrived in the city. Some Lebanese came as peddlers and began trading in fabrics, haberdashery and footwear, which was an insignificant trade until the mid-twentieth century. Also at the same time the first Italians arrived, who were mostly craftsmen, tailors, and coppersmiths. Although small, along with the black population, these groups participated actively in the development of Viçosa. They brought their customs, their beliefs and their values, enriching the local cultural heritage.
In 1908, the House of Charity of Viçosa () was founded, which is today the Hospital São Sebastião (initially built at Avenue Bueno Brandão, only moving to the present location at Rua Tenente Kummel, with the end of the building construction in 1930). In 1922 the Regional Hospital was inaugurated at Afonso Pena Street (as part of the Public Health Plan of the then President of the State of Minas Gerais, Dr. Artur Bernardes).
In 1913, a private company was founded with capital from shares, with the name of Gymnasio de Viçosa (the institution that gave rise to the current Doctor Raimundo Alves Torres State School, – ESEDRAT), in Praça Silviano Brandão. In 1917 the Nossa Senhora do Carmo Normal School was founded in Viçosa (now Carmo College) run by the Carmelite Sisters of Divine Providence and was attached to it for a short time before separating and dedicating itself exclusively to female education. Most significantly, both have become benchmarks of high educational quality in the city and region.
(ESAV; the Higher School of Agriculture and Veterinary Science) was founded in 1926, by the then president of Brazil and former mayor of Viçosa, Arthur da Silva Bernardes. He participated in its construction and hired João Carlos Bello Lisboa as assistant engineer. Its first director was Professor Peter Henry Rolfs, who brought an educational model used in schools in Florida, United States, based on the three-fold "Teaching, Research and Extension" concept that soon spread throughout the rest of the country. In 1948 the Superior School became , (Rural University of the State of Minas Gerais), UREMG. In 1969, it was federalized, becoming the Federal University of Viçosa Foundation. Significant events in the institution's history are reflected in the growth of the city – important personalities for the university are also important personalities for Viçosa. Its establishment within the urban perimeter constitutes a crystallizing factor in one of the city's vectors. The institution attracts people in search of employment and brings students and professors from various parts of the country, promoting the growth and expansion of the city.
In the 1950s, the city underwent significant redevelopment, as well as the construction of important buildings. P. H. Rolfs and Santa Rita Avenues were renovated, the old city hall building (located in Praça do Rosário) was completed and the Cine Brasil building (corner of Praça do Rosário and Rua Padre Serafim) was built, which would become a cultural reference for decades. The construction of the Colégio de Viçosa (current city hall) was begun. The Rosário and Silviano Brandão Plazas were redesigned and the new Mother Church of Santa Rita was erected next to the old one. The construction of the new Catholic church, much larger and more solid than the previous one, at that time, is considered a "milestone for the progress and expansion of the municipality".
In the territorial division dated December 31, 1963, the municipality consisted of three districts: Viçosa, Cachoeira de Santa Cruz and Silvestre. Law No. 001/92, dated January 14, 1992, created the district of São José do Triunfo. Currently, the Municipality of Viçosa has four districts: Viçosa (seat), Cachoeira de Santa Cruz, São José do Triunfo and Silvestre.