Day 8: Olinda
Olinda is a gorgeous city that we visited today, June 20th
2012. It is located just outside of Recife. And it is amazing.
The most interesting part about Olinda is that it was
founded by the Dutch. They cultivated the community, and made it a large
exporter of sugar. Well, the Dutch were protestant and the Portuguese were
Catholic, and eventually the Portuguese kicked them out of the city. Yet, they
left behind incredible structures dating back from the 1500’s, which clearly
have amazing Baroque and High Renaissance elements to them.
The churches had great alter-pieces made out of wood and
gold leafed, very traditional of old catholic churches. Most of the old churches
were inrestoration to preserve them as tourist attractions. Most of the people
are catholic by tradition, but many do not attend church regularly.
The houses in the cities are bright colors. That was done to
tell which house belongs to who. It is a different way of addressing a home,
but it leads to a neighborhood full of rich color and tradition.
The city of Olinda sits on multiple hills. Walking down a
street, and turning a corner may lead you either uphill or downhill. If you are
lucky, like we were, you would go uphill (we went up a huge hill). From there
you can see all of Olinda and Recife, and it has a spectacular view.
The city is full of tour guides who wear yellow shirts and
are willing to give tours for a fee. It is a very important city in Brazilian culture,
because it was the first capital of industry. I was so excited to see it
because it seriously was breath taking.
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