History of Lavras da Mangabeira and Rio Salgado Canyon in Ceará

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Cânion do Rio Salgado em Lavras da Mangabeira
Salgado River Canyon in Lavras da Mangabeira

The state of Ceará has a small Canyon on the Salgado River in the vicinity of the town of Lavras da Mangabeira.

Salgado River Canyon or Boqueirão is with two large rocky walls and cut by the main tributary of the South of Ceará, the Boqueirão, in Lavras da Mangabeira, has great potential for ecotourism.

In 2020, activities such as abseiling and kayaking started.

This small canyon is better known as Boqueirão do Rio Salgado, Boqueirão de Lavras or simply Boqueirão.

Em alguns trechos do Cânion do Rio Salgado, a largura é de 44 metros e a altura da rocha chega a 109 metros
In some sections of the Rio Salgado Canyon, the width is 44 meters and the height of the rock reaches 109 meters.

The name “boqueirão” is because this canyon resembles a big mouth in the popular view. Also because the word “boqueirão” in the Geography of Brazil, serves to designate any space of division in a geographical accident (mountains, plateaus, depressions or plains).

Cânion no Rio Salgado no Ceará

Lavras da Mangabeira is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Ceará. It is located in the micro-region of Lavras da Mangabeira, in the Mesoregion Centro-Sul Cearense. The city is also part of the Cariri metropolitan region.

Mapa administrativo e político do Ceará
Administrative and political map of Ceará

An “open gorge” 109 meters high in relation to the water mirror, constituting one of the most beautiful landscapes of Cariri.

The Rio Salgado or Boqueirão Canyon, in Lavras da Mangabeira, in the Cariri region, has aroused the curiosity of adventure tourism lovers and attracted visitors in recent years.

Despite the beauty, however, the place is still little known in the south of the state, compared to the natural riches that make up the territories within the Chapada do Araripe.

Gruta do Boqueirão de Lavras
Boqueirão de Lavras Cave

The Boqueirão, as the canyon is known, emerged by the opening of a single rock, from a geological fault, explains geologist Yarley Brito, without estimating a date, but assuring that it was “millions of years ago”.

“This rupture, over time, becomes the river because it is at a lower altitude.

In the Northeast, many rivers arise from fractures and faults. Over the years, it broke and the hill remained,” the expert said. This rupture formed a wall close to the riverbed of almost 44 meters wide and permanent well.

History of Lavras da Mangabeira in Ceará

The lands on the banks of the Salgado River were occupied by Indians of various ethnicities, mainly the Kariris.

To make the definitive occupation of Ceará, several Entradas arrived in the 17th century, bringing with them, besides military and explorers, many religious (missionaries), who studied the indigenous people and catechized them, organizing them in villages or missions.

These contacts triggered the discovery of gold in the region of Minas de São José dos Cariris Novos (current municipality of Missão Velha), the news of the discovery spread and there was a real gold rush to the Brazilian hinterlands, where families from Portugal, dreaming of wealth and prosperity before the Portuguese court, flocked to the place.

Paróquia São Vicente Ferrer em Lavras da Mangabeira
São Vicente Ferrer Parish in Lavras da Mangabeira

This search for gold on the banks of the Salgado River brought to the region the colonization of Cariri and the donation of sesmarias, which in turn gave rise to the emergence of villages. This gold fever lasted until the second half of the 17th century, when in 1758 the Portuguese Crown extinguished the extraction of ore because it was becoming too costly.

At that time, in the place called Boqueirão de Lavras, the chapel of São Vicente Férrer was erected, which was the basis for the creation of the new urban center that gave rise to the city of Lavras da Mangabeira.

Tourism and Travel Guide of Ceará and Northeast Brazil

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