Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Much to the delight of the
Cuiabanos
(and the disappointment of rivalling Campo
Grande), it was Cuiabá that was chosen to represent the region as one of the host cities
for the 2014
World Cup
. With this came a rush to develop the city's infrastructure,
including a new light rail system running from the airport to the centre (designed to
shuttle fans to and from the stadium). The Arena Stadium has a capacity of almost
43,000 people and uses as many sustainable materials as possible.
Brief history
Following the discovery of a gold field here in 1719 (one version of the town's name
means the “river of stars”), the town mushroomed as an administrative and service
centre in the middle of
indigenous territory
, thousands of very slow, overland kilometres
from any other Portuguese settlement. To the south lay the Pantanal and the dreaded
Paiaguá people who frequently ambushed convoys of boats transporting Cuiabá gold by
river to São Paulo. The fierce Bororo tribe, who dominated Mato Grosso east of Cuiabá,
also regularly attacked many of the mining settlements. Northwest along a high hilly
ridge - the Chapada dos Parecis, which now carries the BR-364 to Porto Velho - lived
the peaceful Parecis people, farmers in the watershed between the Amazon and the
Pantanal. By the 1780s, however, most of these indigenous groups had been either
eliminated or transformed into allies: the Parecis were needed as slave labour for the
mines; the Bororo either retreated into the forest or joined the Portuguese as mercenaries
and hunters; while the Paiaguá fared worst of all, almost completely wiped out by
cannon and musket during a succession of punitive expeditions from Cuiabá.
The city's most important development came during the 1890s, when a young
Brazilian army o
cer, Lieutenant
Cândido Rondon
, built a telegraph system from Goiás
to Cuiabá through treacherous Bororo territory - assisted no doubt by the fact that he
7
&
,
& Praça Eurico Gaspar
Museu do Morro da
Caixa D´Agua Velha
CUIABÁ
Guaraná
Maués
0
100
metres
Pantanal Nature Tours
Telephone
Tower
PRAÇA
RACHID
JAUDY
Ecoverde
Tours
HSBC
Bank
Om
Cambio
O D
E M E L G A Ç
O
Pre-Satellite
Geodesic Centre
of South America
Telemat
Banco do
Brasil
Prefeitura
Buses to
Rodoviária
PR.
ALENCASTRO
E L E S
Palácio da Instrução
E D R O
Catedral
Museu Historico de Mato Grosso
PRAÇA DA
REPUBLICA
Museu da
Imagen
e do Som
Correios
RUA 13 DE JUNHO
DE JUNHO
Bus to Airport
& River
Igreja do Rosário
D U A R T E
Bus to
Cidade
Universitária
Bus to University
& Museo do ĺndio
Marechal Rondon
ACCOMMODATION
Amazon Plaza
Deville
Hostel Pantanal
Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso Palace
Pousada Ecoverde
Samara
CAFÉS & RESTAURANTS
Choppão
Getúlio Grill
Mana Bar
Mistura Cuiabana
O Regionalíssimo
Padaria Pan Frigo
Pizza na Pedra
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3
4
6
7
5
2
1
4
5
7
6
3
R U A J O A Q U I M
F E
R U A
R A
Igreja do
Bom Despacho
BARS & LIVE MUSIC VENUE
Conde de Azambuja
Confrade
Tom Choppin
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