le A greater threat to the Portuguese was the powerful Tamoio Indians, who had allied with the French. A series of battles occurred, but the Portuguese were better armed and better supplied than the French, whom they finally expelled. They drove the Tamoio from the region in a series of bloody battles. The Portuguese set up a fortified town on the Morro Castelo in 1567 to maximize protection from European invasion by sea and Indian attack by land. They named it Sao Sebastiao do Rio de Janeiro, after King Sebastiao of Portugal. The founding 500 Cariocas built a typical Brazilian town: poorly planned, with irregular streets in medieval Portuguese style. By the end of the century the small settlement was, if not exactly prosperous, surviving on the export of brazil wood and sugar cane, and from fishing in the Baia de Guanabara. In 1660 the city had a population made up of 3000 Indians, 750 Portuguese and 100 blacks. It grew along the waterfront and what is now Praca 15 de Novembro (often referred to as IPraca Quinze). Religious orders came—the Jesuits, the Franciscans and the Benedictines— and built austere, closed-in churches. With its excellent harbor and good lands for sugar cane, Rio became Brazil's third most important settlement (after Salvador da Bahia and Recife-Olinda) in the 17th century. Slaves were imported and sugar plantations thrived. The owners of the sugar estates lived in the protection and comfort of the fortified city. The gold rush in Minas Gerais at the beginning of the 18th century changed Rio forever. In 1704 the Caminho Novo, a new road to the Minas gold fields, was opened. Until the gold began to run out, half a century later, a golden road went through the ports of Rio. Much of the gold that didn't end up in England, and many of the Portuguese immigrants didn't return to Minas, but stayed on in Rio. Rio was now the prize of Brazil. In 1710 the French, who were at war with Portugal and raiding its colonies, attacked the city. The French were defeated, but a second expedition succeeded and the entire population abandoned the city in the dark of night. The occupying French threatened to level the city unless a sizeable ransom in gold, sugar and cattle was paid. The Portuguese obliged. During the return voyage to an expected heroes' welcome in France, the victors lost two ships and most of the gold. Rio quickly recovered from the setback. Its fortifications were improved, many richly decorated churches were built and by 1763 its population had reached 50,000. With international sugar prices slumping, Rio replaced Salvador da Bahia as the colonial capital in 1763. In 1808 the entire Portuguese monarchy and court— barely escaping the invasion by Napoleon's armies— arrived in Rio. The city thus came to house the court of the Portuguese Empire—or at least what was left of it. With the court came an influx of money and skills that helped build some of the city's lasting monuments, like the palace at the Quinta da Boa Vista and the Jardim Botanic° (a pet project of the king). The Portuguese court was followed by talented French exiles, such as the architect Jean de Montigny and the painters Jean Baptiste Debret and Nicolas Antoine Taunay. The coffee boom in the mountains of Sao Paulo and Rio revitalised Brazil's economy. Rio took on a new importance as a port and commercial center, and coffee commerce modernised the city. A telegraph system and gas street lights were installed in 1854. Regular passenger ships began sailing to London in 1845, and to Paris in 1851. A ferry service to Niter6i began in 1862. At the end of the 19th century the city's population \exploded because of European immigration and internal BFtAZZIL - MAY-JUNE 2000
migration (mostly ex-slaves from the declining coffeN and sugar regions). In 1872 Rio had 275,000 inhabitants; by 1890 there were about 522,000, a quarter of them foreign-born. By 1900 the population had reached 800,000. The city spread rapidly between the steep hills, bay and ocean The rich started to move further out, in a pattern that c ntinues tockly, Climate You can expect some rain in Rio. In the summer, from December to March, it gets hot and humid. Temperatures in the high 30° Cs are common and there's more rain than at other times but it rarely lasts for too long. In the winter, temperatures range from the 20°Cs to low 30°Cs, with plenty of good days for the beach. Orientation Rio is divided into a zona none (north zone) and a 'zona sul (south zone) by the Serra da Carioca, steep mountains that are part of the Parque Nacional da Tijuca. These mountains descend to the edge of the city center, where the zonas norte and sul meet. Corcovado, one of these mountain peaks, offers the best way to become familiar with the city's geography—from it you have 'views of both zones. Rio is a tale of two cities. The upper and middle classes reside in the zona sul, the lower class, except for the favela dwellers, the zona norte. Favelas cover steep hillsides on both sides of town—Rocinha, Brazil's largest favela with s mewhere between 150,000 and 300,000 residents, is in avea, one of Rio's richest neighborhoods. Most indust is in the zona none, as is most of the pollution. Th ocean beaches are in the zona sul. Unless the work in the zona none, residents of the zona sul rarely go to the other side of the city. The same holds true for, travellers, unless they head north to the Maracana football stadium or the Quinta da Boa Vista, with the national museum, or the international airport which is on the Ilha do Governador. Centro Rio's center is all business and bustle during the day and absolutely deserted at night and on weekends. It's a working city—the center of finance and commerce. The numerous high-rise office buildings are filled with workers who pour onto the daytime streets to eat at the many restaurants and shop at the small stores. Lots of essential . .services for the traveller are in the center. The o fices are here, as are foreign consulates, main Brazilian gov nment agencies, money exchange houses, banks and tra el agencies. The center is the site of the original settlement of Rio. Most of the ity's important museums and colonial buildings are Ilere. Small enough to explore on foot, the city center is lively and interesting, and occasionally beautiful (despite the many modern, Bauhaus-inspired buildings). Two wide avenues cross the center: Avenida Rio Branco, where buses leave for the zona sul and Avenida Presidente Va gas, which heads out to the sambodromo and the zona orte. Rio's modern subway follows these two avenues a it burrows under the city. Most banks and airline offices have their headquarters on Avenida Rio Branco. We found sightseeing was safer here during the week, because there are lots of people around. On weekends, you stand out much more. Cinelandia At the soUth ern edge of the business district, Cinelandia's shops, bars, restaurants and movie theatres are popular d and night. There are also several decent hotels here that are reasonably priced. The bars and restaurants get crowded at lunch and after work, when there's often samba in the streets. There's a greater mixi 35