Vila do Ventura originated with fugitive prospectors from the municipality of Lençóis and the discovery of diamond and carbonate.
Vila Ventura in the municipality of Lençóis
Escaped prospectors from the municipality of Bed sheets, around 1840 they took shelter in the caves of the farm of Cel. Porfírio Pereira near a waterfall (nowadays Várzea da Cobra) one of the miners was called Ventura.
Soon the miners discovered diamond and carbonate in Vila do Ventura, installed a small mining cut under the protection of Col. Porfírio and started selling the stones in the city of Lençóis, and Ventura (garimpeiro) was responsible for selling the first diamonds, the name “VENTURA” became the reference of the place where the diamonds came from.
Soon throughout the region of the lavras this Ventura was being commented and thus many other prospectors began to populate the new promising lands. It is also known that before the mining was installed in Ventura, there were already some filling houses there.
Between 1840 - 1864 there was a good period of growth, buildings and emerging commerce. However, during the Paraguayan War and the consequent recruitment of a good part of the men, the small village went into decline.
After the war, a new phase is installed and the village grows again, and in the first three decades of the last century its apogee takes place.
State Law nº 680 of August 27, 1906, creates the District of Ventura.
We already noticed at that time a strong commerce that was gradually being installed in the Commercial Square (today Cel. Dias Coelho Square) two schools one state and another municipal and some private teachers where they taught the Portuguese and French language, Agencia do Correio, Associação dos Employees of Commerce of Ventura, Theater, Philharmonic 25 de December, founded in 1907, cemetery and a chapel.
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The main income of the district was the carbonate trade that was traded directly in the European market. One of the causes of the decline of this trade was the introduction of a synthetic element that replaced carbonate, this at the end of the twenties of the last century.
Currently, Vila do Ventura constitutes an appreciable historical site for the development of researches about a period when diamond, carbonado and colonels were subjects of all times.
Video about Vila do Ventura and Rock Trail in Morro do Chapéu
Ventura Village and Rock Trail in Morro do Chapéu
Cave Paintings – Rock Trail in Morro do Chapéu
Distant 390 km from Salvador, Morro do Chapéu has more than 10 sites that gather paintings in caves and rocks, with an infinity of waterfalls, walls, canyons and the highest concentration of Bahia orchids.
The city, located at an altitude of over 1.000m, is also a paradise for fans of extreme sports, the right route for rappelling, mountain biking, trekking and cavernism.
Toca da Figura, in the Ventura region, has a landscape composed of blocks of rock that form shelters and burrows in the middle of the valley.
The site's large panels show men lining up, animals in motion, hunting scenes and men climbing trees. The Toca da Figura paintings combine different colors, such as red, yellow, brown and white, in the same drawing.
Nearby, Toca do Pepino is a large shelter, which must have been used by hunters; consists of a large wall, about 90 meters long, full of paintings.
The paintings on the walls indicate a set of images from the Northeast Tradition, with very small human figures, a large group of men lined up and scenes composed of rituals that include men with headdresses and tools, such as baskets, clubs and spears.
The Gruta da Boa Esperança, 53 km from Morro do Chapéu, contains cave paintings and has a kind of altar that suggests it was a space for religious rituals.
At Lagedo Bordado, on the banks of the Salitre River, rock art appears on a rock, where animal footprints can also be found. For those interested in paleontology, Toca dos Ossos, in Ourolândia, is a place full of fossils.
Chapeú Hill in Chapada Diamantina
First inhabited by the Paiaiás Indians, at the beginning of the XNUMXth century, Morro do Chapéu got its name due to the Morrão of more than 1.200m in the shape of a hat, which reigns supreme in the air. Only in 1909, it was raised to the category of city. Its history dates back to coronelismo and the diamond cycle in Bahia.
Surrounded by an infinity of waterfalls in Chapada Diamantina – Highlight for Ferro Doido, with its 118m waterfall -, large walls, canyons and caves, the landscape of Morro do Chapéu enchants for the diversity of natural beauties.
The region is home to one of the largest concentrations of orchids in Bahia, and is the natural habitat of the golden hummingbird, a rare species of hummingbird present in the region.
The city, located at an altitude of over 1.000m, is also a paradise for fans of extreme sports, the right route for abseiling, mountain biking, trekking and cavernism.
But not only ecological tourism lives Morro do Chapéu. Within the urban perimeter, the beautiful buildings stand out, such as the main church of Nossa Senhora da Graça, from 1834, the chapel of Nossa Senhora da Soledade, from 1911 (built by Dias Coelho, the most illustrious of the colonels of Morro do Chapéu ), the City Hall building, from the XNUMXth century and the house of Father Magalhães, from the same century.
Rock Trail in Morro do Chapéu and Vila do Ventura
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