The city of Aquidauana MS is the gateway to the Pantanal, one of the most beautiful ecosystems in the world, with many tourist attractions. The city enchants with its unique scenery.
The Aquidauana River gave its name to the municipality. Its origin comes from the vocabulary of the Guaicuru Indians, which means narrow river.
At present, the Indians who live in the municipality belong to the Terena ethnic group, which has a population of more than 9,000 Indians spread over 9 villages. Next to the railway station is the indigenous market, where the agricultural products of the villages are sold.
Founded on 15 August 1892 by five cattle ranchers, Aquidauana is a centenary city, with colonial architecture in the historic centre, on the banks of the Aquidauana River and around the Mother Church, some buildings are centenary and others are in the process of becoming so.
In addition to the historic centre, Aquidauana is home to the ruins of the extinct citadel of Santiago de Xerez, built on the banks of the river, 12 km from the current city centre.
Santiago de Xerez, one of the first 34 cities of Spanish origin built in the Americas, was built in 1600 and destroyed by Portuguese bandeirantes in 1632.
Another natural feature of Aquidauana, apart from the Pantanal, is the Serra de Maracaju, which has the scenic and bucolic beauties typical of the interior, such as steep hills, waterfalls and white sandy beaches on the banks of the river.
The region is crossed by the MS 450, which for these reasons was declared a Protected Area in 2000, the Piraputanga Park Road, 42.4 kilometres along the banks of the Aquidauana River.
There are also some catalogued caves with rock inscriptions from the time of the hunter-gatherers who inhabited this region thousands of years ago.
Its exuberant cultural and historical beauty has a strong appeal.
At the end of the 20th century, tourism reached the Pantanal farms with the filming of the soap opera Pantanal (for the now defunct Rede Manchete), which was set on the Rio Negro farm, owned by the traditional Rondon family, in the early 1990s.
The Pantanal of Aquidauana has Pantanal Lodges, which are still in operation and are spread throughout the municipality. They offer a wide range of activities such as horseback riding, night spotting, photo safaris, hiking, chalana rides and visitors can also enjoy typical Pantanal cuisine.
Another aspect of tourism in the municipality is the events that take place throughout the year, such as the Lasso Competitions of the Lasso Clubs, the Paraguayan Soup Festival organised by the Paraguayan Colony, ExpoAqui, PiraFolia, the Comitivas Meeting and the Fish Festival, another traditional activity that has made the Aquidauana River famous. This event is organised by Aquidauana Town Hall with the support of the Fishing Colony.
Come and discover Aquidauana… A combination of welcoming people, strong culture and concentrated nature.
Aquidauana MS - História, Cultura e Turismo
Major Attractions in Aquidauana MS
- Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception
- Father José May Parochial House (Priests’ House)
- Parochial School (Immaculate Conception High School – GIC)
- Immaculate Conception Square
- Pantanal Art Museum
- Afonso Pena Square (Students’ Square)
- Santo Afonso Church – Stone Church – Limão Verde Village
- Aquidauana Railway Station
- Modelo College
- Roldão Carlos de Oliveira (Old or Friendship) Bridge
- 9th Engineering and Combat Battalion “Batalhão Carlos Camisão” (9th BEC)
- Marshal José Machado Lopes Museum (9th BEC)
- Lagoa Comprida Municipal Nature Park
- Piraputanga Park Road – MS 450
1 Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church
Built in the 1930s in a Gothic style.
Alexandre Albuquerque, an engineer from São Paulo who was part of the team that built the Sé Cathedral in São Paulo, was responsible for the project.
For a long time it was said that the idea came from the architect Francisco Luciano Seccomani, an Italian who arrived in Aquidauana in the early years of the 20th century and was in charge of the construction work.
Today it is the mother church of the parish of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception and is under the care of the Redemptorist missionaries who were responsible for its construction. It belongs to the Diocesan Curia of Jardim MS. Praça Nossa Senhora da Imaculada Conceição, s/nº – Centre.
2. Father José May Parish House (Priests’ House)
Built in the 1930s, this is the residence of the Redemptorist missionaries who work in the parish of Nossa Senhora Imaculada Conceição and the itinerant missionary team of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.
The house has an architectural style similar to other Redemptorist buildings in the cities of the region, as can be seen in the municipalities of Miranda, Bela Vista and Ponta Porã. It belongs to the Campo Grande Province of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. Praça Nossa Senhora da Imaculada Conceição, s/nº – Centre.
3. Parochial School (Gymnasium Immaculate Conception – GIC)
The year 1931 marked a new phase for the newly founded Redemptorist Mission of Aquidauana. After the meeting in October of the previous year, Father Francis asked Father Estevão Heigenhauser in São Paulo to recommend a congregation of women religious to run the schools he wanted to establish in all the parishes.
Estevão simply crossed the street that separated the residence of the Redemptorist Fathers from the Provincial House of the Vincentian Sisters, behind the Church of Penha in São Paulo, and spoke to the Mother Provincial.
On 20 January, the Mother Provincial and two other Vincentian Sisters were in Aquidauana for a reconnaissance of their future apostolic field. On 9 March 1931, the first parish school in Aquidauana was opened under the name of “Colégio de Nossa Senhora do Perpétuo Socorro”, under the direction of the Vincentian Sisters. It was later renamed “Ginásio Imaculada Conceição” (Immaculate Conception Grammar School) – GIC – and has educated thousands of students, from primary school to high school.
Built in the 1930s, it functioned as a school until the 1970s. Always associated with Catholic religious organisations, it remained in the popular memory as the Ginásio Imaculada Conceição – GIC. Its architectural style is similar to that of other Redemptorist buildings in the cities of the region, as can be seen in the municipalities of Miranda, Bela Vista and Ponta Porã. It belongs to the Campo Grande Province of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. Praça Nossa Senhora da Imaculada Conceição, s/nº – Centre.
4. Square of the Immaculate Conception
This is the area of the square where, under the shade of a leafy acacia tree, the founders met and drew up the minutes of the founding of the city. This is the starting point for the first buildings, which are the oldest in the city. Praça Nossa Senhora Imaculada Conceição Street, Centre.
5. Pantanal Art Museum
Built in the 1918s by order of Manoel Antônio Paes de Barros, one of the organisers of the first settlement, it had a residential character. Over the years, it has been occupied by various activities, both public and private.
In 1998, the Pantanal Art Museum was established on the site. It has a neo-colonial architectural style in keeping with the other buildings around it. It belongs to the municipal government.
6. Afonso Pena (Students) Square
The Praça dos Estudantes, as it is popularly known, offers a large leisure area with a children’s playground, a room for table games and an acoustic shell for events. Rua Sete de Setembro, Centro.
7. St Alphonsus Church – Stone Church – Limão Verde Village
The Catholic Church stands at the crossroads of the road and the main street in the centre of the village.
In 1932, the Redemptorist Fathers, with the help of two Vincentian sisters and four carts, brought the stones to build the church, which at first also served as a school. The chief mason was the Portuguese José Maria da Cruz.
8. Aquidauana Train Station
The construction of Aquidauana Railway Station began in 1908 and it was inaugurated on 21 December 1912. It was originally a building with a small platform, in the style of the stations of the time (Piraputanga, Camisão and Taunay).
The movement of the station meant that the commercial centre, which had previously been concentrated on the banks of the Aquidauana River, gradually moved closer to the station. For many decades it was the main means of transport for the population.
In the 1960s, the old station was rebuilt with the structure we know today, more spacious and modern, with straight lines (characteristic architecture of the time, due to the influence of Brasilia).
In 1996, the passenger train stopped using the tracks, leaving only the freight train.
In 2009, the station was revitalised and the tourist train Pantanal Express began to run, taking tourists to discover the beauty of the Pantanal in the state of Mato Grosso, but its activities ended in 2013.
Today, the station has a new importance for our city. It now houses a restaurant, the Pantaneira Station, the Aquidauana Entrepreneurs’ Room, the Artisans’ House and the CAT (Tourist Service Centre).
9. Modelo College
Built in 1930, it was one of the first schools in the city and the first group of public schools. In recent years it housed the Antônio Corrêa State School, which closed at the end of 2008.
It is owned by the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, which donated the building to the Municipality, which for a time housed the Casa das Fundações de Cultura, Turismo e de Esporte – Address: Rua Teodoro Rondon, s/nº – Centro.
10. Roldão Carlos de Oliveira (Old or Friendship) Bridge
Its construction began in 1918 on stone piers and wooden ballast, and it was inaugurated on 19 December 1921. It was the first non-fluvial link between the two parts of the city, the left bank, now Anastácio, and the central region of Aquidauana.
Its architecture is striking and it was adapted from an English railway bridge, which for several decades was the only link with the neighbouring municipality of Anastácio.
On 13 October 1950 it was closed to heavy vehicles, as it is 23 metres high and 63 metres long. It also crosses the Aquidauana River, after which the municipality is named.
Its use is very important for transport in the region. – Address: Praça Nossa Senhora da Imaculada Conceição Street.
11. 9th Engineering and Combat Battalion “Batalhão Carlos Camisão” (9th BEC)
Construction of the building began in 1920 and was completed in 1923. Due to its strategic location in the municipality, it has housed several corps of the Brazilian Army. Since its creation on 06/Oct/1942, it was incorporated into the Brazilian Expeditionary Force for the fighting in the Second World War, where more than 700 men were attached to this military unit.
It is a milestone in the history of the army, being the first Brazilian unit to fight in the Italian campaign, successfully participating in the battles of Monte Castelo, Castelnuovo and Montese. Subordinated to the Western Military Command, it trains contingents of reservists and qualifies them for the job market. It is present in the local community, especially in disaster situations, and provides construction services to local governments.
In some situations, it participates in multi-vaccination campaigns. It belongs to the Ministry of the Army.
Carlos de Morais Camisão, colonel who led the troops in the Retirada da Laguna during the Paraguayan War. He was born in Rio de Janeiro (08/May/1821) and died of cholera in Jardim/MS (29/May/1867). He received decorations from various orders of the time: Order of Christ (1849), Imperial Order of the Rose (1849) and Order of Avis (1860).
he Paraguayan War, or War of the Triple Alliance, was the largest international armed conflict in South America. It was fought between Paraguay and the Triple Alliance (Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay).
In April 1865, a column left Rio de Janeiro and was reinforced in Uberaba/MG, forming a military column of 3,000 men to fight the Paraguayans. The war lasted from December 1864 to March 1870. It is called the War of the Triple Alliance in Argentina and Uruguay, and the Great War in Paraguay.
Retirada de Laguna (Retreat of Laguna) A key episode in the Paraguayan War when, in January 1867, Colonel Calos Camisão took command of the column, then reduced to 1,680 men, and decided to invade Paraguayan territory, where in April he penetrated as far as the present-day municipality of Bela Vista/MS.
The troops stayed far away from the Brazilian border, and without enough food they suffered from cholera, typhus and beriberi. As a result, the Brazilian troops were forced to retreat under constant attack from Paraguayan cavalry.
Of the 3,000 troops that arrived, only 700 reached the Brazilian lines at Coxim/MS in June 1868. It was described in the novel by Visconde de Taunay – A Retirada da Laguna (who was a young officer at the time), which describes the whole epic and also the region of Aquidauana and Anastácio.
12. Marshal José Machado Lopes Museum (9th BEC)
Located on the premises of the Carlos Camisão Battalion, it was created to house the collection of what is considered the largest war trophy ever won by Brazil, a German flag seized in the Scodogna region (1m50cm x 2m50cm), captured by the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB) during the Second World War (1939-1945), during the Italian Campaign (1944-1945), photographs, documents and objects used by the soldiers.
The 9th Engineering Battalion, which was the first troop to go into combat in the Italian Campaign and the only Brazilian military engineering battalion to take part in the Second World War. Rua Duque de Caxias, s/nº – Bairro Alto.
13. Comprida Lagoon Municipal Nature Park
In the municipality of Aquidauana there is a lagoon called Comprida. It is located about 1.5 kilometres from the lower course of the João Dias stream.
With environmental concerns in mind, the City Council created the Lagoa Comprida Municipal Nature Park with the aim of preserving a natural ecosystem of great ecological importance and scenic beauty, protecting the natural and cultural heritage of the region.
The Lagoa Comprida Park is a space for contemplation and leisure, offering the population free spaces for interaction, a sand volleyball court and a walking track, as well as a stunning landscape that is even beneficial to people’s mental health, in addition to being of great importance for the conservation of the city’s urban system.
14. Piraputanga Park Road – MS450
Established in 2000, this 10,108-hectare protected area (APA) comprises a 42.5km stretch of uninterrupted road between Aquidauana and Dois Irmãos do Buriti.
With its unique scenic beauty and natural attractions, the Piraputanga Park Road is made up of savannah and mountain ranges, and is home to countless species of animals.
Objectives: To protect the landscape, ecology and cultural history, to promote the recovery of the Aquidauana River basin and the Serra de Maracaju formations, making them compatible with the rational use of environmental resources and the orderly occupation of the land, guaranteeing the quality of the environment and the quality of life of the indigenous communities.
