A dive in the history and culture of the city
After checking the natural beauties of Cabo Frio it isit’s time for preparing the spirit for a walk for the history and a dive in the universe of images and forms that the historical and cultural spaces of Cabo Frio offer. The difficult is to decide what to visit first.
From the old casario in downtown and in the neighborhood of the Passage, to the monuments built in the peak of the process of extraction of the salt, there is a lot to know and to learn. The adventure can begin at the downtown, in the bandstand of the square Porto Rocha and to proceed with a visit to the Convent of N. S.dos Anjos and the head office of the Church of N. S. de Assunção. The walk continues with a visit to Charitas, the center of culture in Cabo Frio.
From there, it is easy to arrive to São Mateus’s Fort, Portuguese mark to defend the French, Dutch pillagers’ area and English. And that is only the beginning. Follow the list of those positions and have a great cultural programming after the beach,of course...
Convent of N. S. of the Angels and Museum of Sacred Art In 1615, the Captain-Mor of Cabo Frio, Estevão Gomes, began to donate lands to its friends in order to begin the economic development of the area. The Franciscan order was one of those contemplated and it received a piece of land where should found its convent. The work was only concluded 81 years later, in 1696. Located in the base of the Morro da Guia, beside the bridge Feliciano Sodré, the Convent is one of the marks of the religious architecture of the colonial period. Beside the central ship you’ll find the Franciscan cemetery and, in the top of the Morro da Guia, the Chapel Nossa Senhora da Guia. Close to the convent, those constructions compose the more important architectural group of the city in terms of historical patrimony. Since 1982, it works in the place the Museum of Sacred Art, that counts with an exhibition room, sheltering the religious collection of rare images of the period of the Baroque art of the centuries permanently XVI and XVII, in terracota and wood. And for who wants to leave the place taking a memory, the Museum shelters a store that sells cultural goods, including specialized publications, T-shirts and the most significant artists’ of the area mini-pictures. From Wednesday to Friday, from 2 pm to 8 pm. It can also be visited with the company of a tourist guide. In that way it is thoroughly possible knowledge the whole history, legends and popular stories that surround the Convent of N. S. of the Angels.
Igreja de N. S. da Assunção hen the Portuguese navigators, traveling around the seas, discovered a new land, it was part of the religious tradition to give to the city and the church that should be built, a saint’s name. Therefore, anything more natural than to give to Cabo Frio Santa Helena’s name, since its foundation is commemorated in November thirteen, day of Santa Helena.
During some time the place was called like this, until the Captain-Mor, for occasion of the inauguration of the church, ordered to come from Portugal an image of the saint. The ship arrived at the Brazilian beaches with the indent, but for a mistake the saint that came was N. S. de Assunção. Turn order for Portugal, the ship ended up returning six times, by the force of the sea. The researchers don’t check this history that the people tell, but, in fact, the church ended up becoming the Head office of N. S. de Assunção. It is the seventh older church of the country, it was totally built in Baroque style and decorated in gold. It used to have one of the oldest images of Brazil, of the N. S. da Conceição, that unfortunately was stolen. Besides appreciating the beauty of the Baroque architecture of the church, it can be acquired religious goods and to savor a coffee in the store that is to the side. The parish of Our Lady of the Assumption is located in the square Porto Rocha, in the downtown, beside the movies.
São Mateus Fort
The Fort, that gives name to the most famous beach of Cabo Frio, was built by the Portuguese in the century XVII to defend the land from the invasions of Frenches, English and Dutch. From that time of conflicts there are still remain the canyons used in the battles, that continue gone back to the sea, in eternal defense of the city. The house where the soldiers lived is at the enclosures of the Fort and today it serves as space for craft exhibition and artists’ of the area pictures. On the top of the Fort a complete vision of the whole extension from the Beach of the Fort to Arraial do Cabo. On the other side, it is also possible to visualize the not very explored part of Japanese’s Island and the fishermen working. It is part of the beauty of São Mateus Fort to admire him from a distance, mainly at night when its special illumination is reflected in the calm waters of the Beach of the Fort.
Chapel of N. S. da Guia
The chapel of N. S. da Guia, located in the high of the hill of same name, is also a walled patrimony of “histories” and legends. It was built in 1740 by the Franciscan friars, behind the convent of N. S. of the Angels. It says the legend that the image of N. S. da Guia, possessed an altar dedicated to her in the convent, but when placed there, it appeared on top of the hill on the following day. And this would happen everytime someone insisted on taking it down . After several attempts, they decided for doing the “will” of the saint and a chapel was built on top of the hill to shelter the image. There we have the elevated point of the city and of there a beautiful panoramic vision of Cabo Frio is had and of the neighboring municipal districts. With the reforms for the construction of an observatory, now the area allows to also sight the Point of Arpoador and the beach of Peró. During the night the visual is extraordinary. It is been after all this to beat that hunger, it is not necessary to go down. The Kioskda Guia offers several snacks, besides maintaining exposed a collection of old photos of the city.
Charitas
The building where today the House of Culture of Cabo Frio works keeps in its wide rooms a lot of history. It was already orphanage, shelter in the times of Second World War, forum, municipal library and headquarters of the Municipal Clerkship of Culture. A history that began in 1837, when the house was built and denominated Charitas (it is pronounced Káritas), or House of Charity. In that time, the children were very frequently abandoned and to avoid that those babies, in its majority children of slaves and Indians, had an uncertain destiny, Charitas appeared. A wheel in the entrance of the house was the mechanism used to pick up the children and, for that reason, the place was also well-known as House of the Wheel. Now, Charitas shelters the permanent exhibition of José de Dome’s collection, plastic artist recognized internationally and that lived many years in the city. The house is a dynamic space, constantly promoting seminars, shops, lectures and music,dances and theater presentations. Another strong point of Charitas are the piano classes, English and drawing - among other - offered to popular prices.
The patio of the funds of Charitas shelters another historical treasure of the city: the Pillory, of the year of 1660. It is a stone column where were fixed the proclamations of the Camera and where was exposed the criminals awaiting the punishment. An average of 60 visitors raisin for the place daily, number that jumps for 200 in the high season. Charitas is in the Avenida Assunção, in downtown, and it is open to visitation from Monday to Friday, from 8 am to 8 pm. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays the schedule of operation is from 2 pm to 8 pm.
Municipal theater
The municipal theater of the city is a new building, built in 1997, with Italian architectural style. The roof is colonial and the outside side is totally surrounded by white sand. The interior is composed by bleachers in format of horseshoe, that provide wide visibility of the scene. The local culture has preference, what doesn’t impede the presence of famous personalities. They already went by the theater artists Chico Anysio, Zezé Mota, Dercy Gonçalves and Natália Thimberg. The municipal theater is in the Avenida do Contorno, in front of the kiosks of the Beach of the Fort and beside the Clerkship of Tourism.
Channel of Itajurú
The bucolic scenery of the Channel of Itajuru reminds the calm and unknown Cabo Frio of times behind. And it is of formerly, of the time in that the territory was still inhabited by the Indians, that the meaning of the name comes Itajuru: stone throat. The channel of 6 km of extension, that links the pond of Araruama to the ocean Atlantic, has its more well-known point in the downtown, in front of the neighborhood of Gamboa.
The sunset is, without a doubt, the best hour to admire the romantic climate of the place. In the sidewalk, right at the seashore of the channel, it is where the famous fair of craft of the area stays, very sought by the tourists at the end of the afternoon. It is also there that the Terminal de embarque is located, starting point of the schooner walks for the area. At Boulevard Channel’s end - street formerly call of Avenue of the Fishermen - it is the São Bento beach.
Itajurú Spring
A walled garden, almost leaving the downtown. It is the impression that is had from the Itajuru Spring. Even if a relative documentation doesn’t exist to the true function of the spring, everything takes to believe that its waters provisioned a camp of fishing indigenous tupinambá, besides serving to the fortresses and European embarkations that trafficked brazilwood in the area. In 1847, for order of D. Pedro II and for occasion of its visit, a hut was built in stone to protect the spring, with the roof decoration with imported tiles. Today it is a space open to visitation and in its gardens there are native trees as the brazilwood and the guabiroba. In spite of not being a place very known by the tourists, it is very pleasant and completely fence of green. The benches there inside are ideal to rest and to take good pictures. Avenida Júlia Kubitschek, Downtown, Opened daily, from 8 am to 5 pm.
Church of São Benedito/Passagem
The neighborhood of the Passage appeared to be a support point in the crossing for the Channel of Itajuru. Even so its architectural and historical wealth transformed the place in an interesting and pleasant tourist point. Going for a walk in the narrow and with old pavement streets, the visitor can observe the houses in colonial style of the last century, with low and colored windows, all historical patrimony. Many still conserve in its covering the famous tiles molded in the pregnant slaves’ thighs. São Benedito’s Church is well in the center of the neighborhood, in the plaza of same name. Built in 1701, it was born to shelter the black slaves, because to them it was not allowed to frequent the same church that the whites. In that way, anything worthier than to place in the main altar a black saint, São Benedito. The chapel is very smaller and it doesn’t show off the Baroque beauty of N. S. de Assunção, but its wealth is in the simplicity of the style. After the center to have been chosen for urban nucleus of the city, the neighborhood of the Passage ended up becoming a villa of fishermen. All you have to do to get to the place is go straight ahead through the Avenida Assunção and to bend to the right. Or, then,0 proceeding to the border, until the end of the beach of the Fort and to turn to the left.
Feliciano Sodré Bridge
The Feliciano Sodré Bridge’s construction meant a mark in 1926, when it was inaugurated. It represented the largest empty space free from the country and, during decades, it was the only entrance of the city. The bridge connects downtown to the neighborhood of Gamboa, where stays the Street of the Bikinis, besides being access road to the municipal district of Búzios. To the left of the bridge you’ll find the Market of Pisces of the area. It is worthwhile to do a stop in the sidewalk of the Channel of Itajuru to admire.
Dormitório das Garças (Bedroom of the Herons)
Leaving Cabo Frio, in direction to Búzios, get ready to find the Bedroom of the Herons, the place where, late afternoon, the birds take refuge to rest and to reproduce. It is a swamp area that is on the left side, about 800 meters after the bridge Feliciano Sodré. The best hour to appreciate the show of arrival of the herons is among 5:45 pm up to 6 pm. Several local campaigns of understanding exist for preservation of the place, that, during some time, ended up becoming a garbage deposit due to the uninformed population.
Dunes
The incredible formation of temporary white mountains was another present from the mother nature to Cabo Frio. Those dunes of fine sands have the shine revealed by the sun and the format molded by the winds. They are of marine origin and some, close to the beach of the Fort, are covered with sandbank. In the highway that is going to Arraial do Cabo is where it is the most beautiful group of “white dunes” and also where stays the largest one, call of “Duna Mãe”(Dune Mother). The visitation in the summer is from 9 am to 8 pm. Another group of dunes is at the beach of Peró. Right amusement for the children of all the ages, that can slip on “toboggans“ of sand.
Fallen angel
The opening of the channels of the pond of Araruama to facilitate the access of the embarkations of salt comings of the interior was commemorated with a monument. In 1907 a statue was built, where leans an angel’s of open wings illustration, with nine height meters. With passing of the time, and due to the currents of the tides and to the winds Southwest, the statue was, slowly, leaning. And it ended being called commonly of “Fallen Angel.” The monument is inside of the Channel of Itajuru, in the neighborhood of Portinho.
Reservation of Sambaquis
The space from the end of the Beach of the Fort to the Beach of the onchas shows an interesting and still not very well-known piece of the Brazilian natives’ history. It is the sambaquis reservation, archaeological ranches where were found bones of Indians that lived in the area, centuries ago. The wealth of the archaeological studies of those engines is very big because close to the dead were buried their belong, representing the habits of an entire society. The area of Sambaquis can be visited, but there still is not an instituted route. That is a project to be developed by the local city hall.
A space for the seventh art in downtown Besides pretty beaches, unforgettable walks and a great meal, Cabo Frio, starting from 2002, offers one more entertainment option for the visitor. It is Cine Shopping Recreio, that totally returns remodeled, sheltering two projection rooms and 10 commercial rooms.
The movies occupies the third floor of the shopping and the rooms have capacity for 197 and 96 spectators. During the week, the sessions happen at night, and on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays it also has matinee, in the afternoon. The entrance costs around R$ 6,00 and the movies do not accepts checks. There are two sessions per night and, depending on the time
of duration of the film, the first has beginning at 7 pm. But don’t worry: the late ones can amuse themselves while they wait the next session. A turn for the stores of the own shopping or for the proximities of the place are a great option for the time to pass.
A very nice clue is to visit and to take a snack at the Tabacaria Forte do Lobo. Placed right beside the Cine Recreation, it has the most varied types of cigarettes, cigars and imported drinks. The collectors will go crazy with the miniatures of automobiles that the store has. Just make sure you won’t forget about the time and losethe other movie session.
Cine Shopping Recreio is located beside the Main Church N. S. de Assunção, in front of the square Porto Rocha. Fair of Music
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