Porto Seguro

This article is about the city in Brazil. For the city in Togo formerly known as Porto Seguro, see Agbodrafo. For the school in São Paulo known as Porto Seguro, see Colégio Visconde de Porto Seguro.

Porto Seguro
Location of Porto Seguro
Coordinates:
Region	Nordeste
State	Bahia
Founded	30 June 1534
Government
• Mayor	Claudia Silva Santos Oliveira PSD
Area
• Total	2,408 km2 (930 sq mi)
Elevation	4 m (13 ft)
Population (2006)
• Total	140,000
• Density	58/km2 (150/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-3
Postal code	45810-000
Website	[1]

Porto Seguro (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpoʁtu siˈɡuɾu]) is a city located in Bahia state, Brazil; the region surrounding Porto Seguro was the first to be discovered by Portuguese navigators in the current Brazilian territory.

Geography

Porto Seguro
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     88     30 22     96     30 22     118     29 22     169     28 21     159     27 20     151     26 19     176     26 18     101     27 19     131     28 20     148     28 21     143     29 22     130     29 21 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm Source: Weather to Travel
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     3.5     86 72     3.8     86 72     4.6     84 72     6.7     82 70     6.3     81 68     5.9     79 66     6.9     79 64     4     81 66     5.2     82 68     5.8     82 70     5.6     84 72     5.1     84 70 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

Climate

The weather is always hot and humid in the summer, peaking at 40°C and very mild in the winter, averaging 25 degrees and minimum of 19 degrees. During July, August and November the probability of rain is greater.

Subdivisions

Porto Seguro is divided into five districts

• Porto Seguro (sede);
• Arraial d'Ajuda;
• Caraíva
• Trancoso
• Vale Verde

The municipality contains the 1,151 hectares (2,840 acres) Pau-Brasil Ecological Station, a full protected conservation unit created in 1997 to protect a fragment of Atlantic Forest, and specifically to protect Brazil wood (Pau Brasil, Caesalpinia echinata).

Economy

The city is now considered one of the most important sights of Brazil, receiving tourists from the center-south of the country and countries like Argentina, Portugal, the United States, Israel and France. The place also has one or two dozen luxury hotels and hundreds of smaller hotels, but good quality and with an international airport capable of landing aircraft of similar size to the Boeing 767 and Airbus A310. Apart from tourism, other important activities are agriculture (especially the cashew apple, the coconut ), the reforestation with eucalyptus trees, the cattle, the trade and services.

The city offers one of the most famous Carnival parties in Bahia. “Electric Trios” (trucks carrying sound systems and live bands), dancing “blocos” and “cordões” (street dancing groups) drag thousands of tourists along the "Passarela do Álcool" Passageway (the traditional local avenue) and to beach bars.

Attractions

Beach in Porto Seguro

Night Leisure The Passarela do Álcool Passageway is a famous spot in the city. Here, visitors find the famous "Capeta” drink, can have dinner with live music and buy gifts made in the region; or visitors may go to Capitania dos Peixes, on Pacu Island, with ecological landscapes and an assorted variety of music genres and ambiences, near giant aquariums.

Historical Downtown Area The historical site in the Cidade Alta area is a National Heritage Monument put under government trust by a Federal Decree since 1973. It was one of the first towns in Brazil and played an important role during the first years of European colonization. It includes three churches and around 40 buildings (among private residential houses and public institutions), restored by the State Government for the 500th anniversary celebration of Brazilian discovery. At night the whole area is bathed by a special lighting system, offering an impressive view.

Monte Pascoal National Park Created in 1961 to preserve the place where Brazil was discovered by Portuguese warriors. It includes swamp areas, salt marshes, river marshes and a coastline around the rocky, high and round hill, considered the first point of land to be seen by the Portuguese traveler Pedro Álvares Cabral’s crew. It extends over an area of 144.8 km², including the Pataxó tribe’s indigenous protection land. Besides its historical importance, it also offers protection to one of the last stretches of Atlantic forest in the Northeastern area of Brazil. The area is aimed at preserving valuable woods such as Brazil wood, and still hosts many species of animals threatened by extinction, such as “collar sloth”, “black burs”, among others.

Recife de Fora Sea Park It was the first city owned park in Brazil. During low tide, visitor can view a wide range of coral reefs, fish and many sea species. Tours are available on schooners.

Glória Hillock Here, visitors find the ruins of what many consider to be the São Francisco Church, the where Ynaiá was buried, an Indian woman who died for the love of a crewmember of Portuguese navigator Gonçalo Coelho‘s fleet. People say the São Francisco Church was the first one built in Brazil, in baroque style, probably in 1504, whose ruins date to 1730.

The Nossa Senhora da Penha Matrix Church Located on Pero de Campos Tourinho Square, in Cidade Alta, it was built at the 18th century’s end. It comprises an aisle, a main chapel, a sacristy and a bell tower.

Jaqueira Indigenous Protection Reservation A huge jackfruit tree trunk, tumbled down by nature itself, represents the return to one’s origins and acts as a historical and cultural reference to honor the ancestral fathers and mothers of Pataxó families who recently moved into this 8.27 km² Indian protection area. Their huts, spread around original Atlantic Forest woods, keeps original old formats, giving visitors the impression of being back 500 years in time to pre-Columbian Brazil.

Aquarium Island Aquarium Island or Ilha dos Aquarios is a thematic leisure center combining nightlife infrastructure and environmental and sea biodiversity protection, with giant aquariums. It is located on Pacuio Island, on Buranhém River and access is available exclusively by boat. You can access the island from the little ferry just next to the fishermans dock.

The Discovery Outdoors Museum An outdoors, natural museum, whose “art galleries” are its beaches, valleys and natural trails and whose “collection” is a set of geographical formations and traditional villages, disposed as art works in permanent exhibition, engraved in very ancient media, which are spread along the 130 km length of Bahia’s historical southern coastline.

Terravista Golf Course The golf course, designed by architect Dan Blankenship, offers 18 holes and demanded US$ 4 million in investment to be built. The project follows the most sophisticated and up to date trends in golf course building in the world today, as done in California, USA, and in Algarve, Portugal – all of which look very similar in terms of weather and geographical conditions, for all three golf courses are close to sea areas. Terravista is also a big real Estate projects with several luxurious villas and is also where the Club Med Trancoso is situated.

Transport

Airway

The Safe Harbor Airport (Porto Seguro Airport) was opened in 1982. Its passenger terminal was very simple and small (this building is now occupied by the Fire Department of the city). In 1997, the airport was reopened, having received a new passenger terminal, new aircraft parking lot and extension of runway to operate large aircraft. In 2010 the airport had some major renovations preparing the city to host several of the International football teams who had a training camp in Porto Seguro for the World Cup 2014.

External links

• Info site of Arraial d'Ajuda
• Voz de Trancoso - Site Ambiental
• Taxi Service at the airport of Porto Seguro
• Info Site of Porto Seguro
• http://www.portoseguro-brasil.com
• Info site of Trancoso