Cantagalo, Rio de Janeiro

Cantagalo
Municipality
Flag Coat of arms
Location in Rio de Janeiro state
Cantagalo Location in Brazil
Coordinates: 21°58′51″S 42°22′4″W / 21.98083°S 42.36778°W / -21.98083; -42.36778
Country	Brazil
Region	Southeast
State	Rio de Janeiro
Area
• Total	749 km2 (289 sq mi)
Population  (2020 [1])
• Total	20,168
• Density	27/km2 (70/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-03:00 (BRT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-02:00 (BRST)

Cantagalo (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˌkɐ̃tɐˈɡalu]), formerly spelled Cantagallo,^[2][3] is a city located in the east-central area of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. The population is 20,168 (2020 est.) in an area of 749 km².^[4] Its elevation is 391 m (1,283 ft).

Colonization of Cantagalo began in 1755, when Portuguese nobleman Manoel Henriques, Duke of Terso and a clandestine gold miner, left the state of Minas Gerais in search of unexplored riches. Henriques and his group erected a settlement^{[citation needed]} on a small tributary of the Parahyba approximately 80 miles (129 km) northwest of Rio^[2] and began exploring along the local rivers. It was originally known as Sertões de Macacu after the nearby Macacu River.^{[citation needed]}

By 1784, the settlement had grown to accommodate approximately 200 houses. This growth caught the attention of the Portuguese rulers of Brazil, who had a monopoly over gold exploration in the colony. By order of the Viceroy Luiz de Vasconcelos e Souza, several expeditions were sent in search of Henriques and his group. The town's current name (Portuguese for "rooster crow") was inspired by the circumstances of his capture. A troop was about to return to their camp after a day of searching in vain around the woods, when a soldier heard the crowing of a rooster nearby and decided to further explore the area. One of Henriques's men was found in a clearing in the woods and, in exchange for his release, revealed the whereabouts of the rest of the group. Henriques was deported to Africa in dishonour.^{[citation needed]}

By 1786, the settlement's name had been officially changed from Sertões de Macacu to Cantagalo. In 1814, Cantagalo was officially recognized by Emperor Pedro I as a municipality and in October 1857, was officially elevated to the category of city.^{[citation needed]} By the mid-19th century, the area's gold was played out and the settlement came to depend on agriculture.^[2] Corn, coffee, and sugarcane plantations covered several acres of highly fertile land.^{[citation needed]}

Before the First World War, Cantagallo was considered a rich fruit- and coffee-producing district and was connected to Rio via a 100-mile-long eponymous railway.^[3]

Nowadays, the city's economic activities still revolve around agriculture, with the exploration of granite and calcareous rock for the cement industry also playing a strong role. Some of the largest cement manufacturers in Brazil have facilities in Cantagalo.^{[citation needed]}

Financial journalist Jose Carlos Rodrigues was the son of a coffee planter of Cantagallo, born here in 1844. Writer Euclides da Cunha was born here on January 15, 1886; a city district is named Euclidelândia in his honour.

• Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878), "Cantagallo" , Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 5 (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, p. 27
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911), "Cantagallo" , Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 5 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 208

• City's official website Archived 2020-08-23 at the Wayback Machine

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