Caxias do Sul is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil. It is located in the northeast of the state at an altitude of 817 meters above sea level, being the most important city in the Serra Gaúcha; the second most populous city in Rio Grande do Sul, surpassed only by the capital Porto Alegre; and the 47th largest Brazilian city.

Throughout its history, Caxias has been known as Campo dos Bugres (until 1877), Colônia de Caxias (1877-1884) and Santa Teresa de Caxias (1884-1890). The city was built where the Plateau of Vacaria begins to break up into several valleys, furrowed by small watercourses, with the result of having a very rugged topography in its southern part. The area was inhabited by Caigangue Indians since time immemorial, but they were violently displaced by the so-called "bugreiros" making room, at the end of the 19th century, for the government of the Brazilian Empire to decide to colonize the region with a European population. Thus, thousands of immigrants, mostly Italians from the Veneto region, but with some members from other origins such as Germans, French, Spaniards and Poles, crossed the sea and climbed the Serra Gaucha, opening up an area that is still almost entirely virgin.

Before the arrival of Italian immigrants in the 19th century, the region was inhabited by Caingangues Indians. Hence, its old name: Campo dos Bugres. There, muleteers also passed on their journeys between the south of the state and the center of the country. In the region, the Jesuits tried to found some reductions, although without success.

In the second half of the 19th century, due to the Italian war of unification, that European country was in a serious social and economic crisis, and impoverished farmers were no longer able to guarantee their livelihood. At this time, the imperial government of Brazil decided to undertake the colonization of uninhabited areas in the south of the country, encouraging the arrival of immigrants from Italy, after the success of a similar initiative with the Germanic element. The chosen area was then known as Fundos de Nova Palmira, a region formed by unoccupied lands, delimited by Campos de Cima da Serra, to the north, and by the region of valleys, to the south, of German colonization.


The city's primitive urban core around 1886
In 1875, the first settlers arrived, mostly from the Veneto region, after facing the arduous crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, which lasted about a month, in overcrowded ships and where deaths from disease and poor general conditions were common. Initially, immigrants arrived in Rio de Janeiro, where they remained in quarantine at the Casa dos Imigrantes. They boarded a steamer to the south, arriving in Porto Alegre, where they were sent to the former Porto Guimarães, today the municipality of São Sebastião do Caí. Then, they went up the mountain, crossing the still practically wild region, until they reached their destination: the area where, today, Nova Milano is. From there, in 1876, they moved to the so-called Headquarters Dante, site of the future Caxias do Sul, the administrative center of the colony, the first to be demarcated in the region, where they were received in a wooden shed - hence the epithet Barracão too attributed to the small colonial headquarters. Afterwards, they were distributed in rural lots assigned to them by the government. A year later, there were already about 2,000 settlers at the site. On April 11, 1877, the official name of the place became Colônia Caxias, in honor of the Duque de Caxias.

Tuesday, hora
Aug 17, 2021


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