Brazil: Rio das Flores - Historical patrimony in decay...

[RAPHAEL KISS]

The region where I live in the state of Rio de Janeiro is known as the "Vale do Café" (Coffee valley). During the 19th century, 75% of the world consumption of coffee was produced here.

Due to the abolition of slavery in 1888, which made the production of coffee a lot less lucrative, but also exhaustion of the soil as a result of overproduction, most fazendas were forced to change their business plans and become cattle farms, pousadas or museums (or both), or simply close down.

On a day ride, making my way to Rio das Flores, I passed a fazenda that had a sign in front of it, which to me suggested that it was a touristic site .



The sign in front of the place suggests that this is a touristic place, or am I wrong?


It didn't look like any of the other fazendas that I had visited before though, and by that, I mean that it didn't look very "maintained". Actually, it looked more like a place in decay, which made me curious.

I saw a few people, talking or just sitting around on the porch of one of the buildings, and asked if I could come in and take a look around, but they told me that this fazenda wasn't open for visitation. One of them, a guy in his twenties who introduced himself as Adriano, came up to the gate to take a closer look at my bike. We started talking and after a while he asked if I was interested in taking a few pictures. Why, of course dude... duh... :)

Adriano said that the owner didn't like people visiting, but she was in Rio de Janeiro, so there would be no problem. I felt a little like an intruder, but on the other hand I couldn't pass by this opportunity to take a peek inside a place that seemed like they wanted to keep hidden from the public.

Walking up to the main house (the "casa grande"), Adriano told me that the fazenda originated in 1805, but the house was built in 1880 (8 years before the abolition of slavery), as a replacement of the original one.



The "casa grande" abandoned and in decay... I couldn't wait to have a look inside.


Check out the detail on this façade... It would be a real shame if this gets lost

A few years ago, the fazenda, which was once one of the biggest coffee producers of the region around the city of Valença, was put on the preserved patrimonium list by Rio de Janeiro State authorities, which explains the "touristic attraction" sign ourside the gate, but the current owner, who inherited the fazenda, hasn't entered the main house in 4 years, and apparently has no plans to do anything to prevent further decay of the property, which is a real shame...

It wasn't very hard for me to imagine how beautiful this place must have been during its glory years. The main house in bright white and blue, with its beautifully decorated façade and a fountain in front of it. According to Adriano, the family had more than 40 servants in and around the house to cook, clean and take care of the garden. The space under the house, which was not a lot higher than a present day crawling space, was where the slaves were kept.

We entered the house and I noticed a strong smell of mold everywhere. Adriano opened a few shutters and the first thing I noticed when the light entered the rooms, were the dozens of bats, that clearly chose this house as their new residence. I could also see that a lot of the original furniture was still there. Tables, chairs, stoves, beds, pictures on the walls... but also an authentic antique telephone and two refrigerators that worked with kerosene.



the room where the ladies had to retreat to after dinner...


While the men stayed in the big room to smoke and talk about business (women & football of course )


Another oom, adjacent to the chapel... looks like this is where they played poker

The most impressive part to me was the chapel, which had been recovered from the original house. Fazendas were usually located far from the nearest town and church. Thanks to the in-house chapel, the family of the coffee baron could fulfill their christian duties without ever leaving home.



I'm sure lots of real churches don't look good as good as this in-house chapel... and to think this kind of beautiful stuff is probably rotting away in several more places all over the vale do café


Dozend of bats are now residing on the casa grande... when Ardiano opened the shutters, most of them flew away, but these ones "hung around" a little longer for the photo...


the ornamental ceiling on the first floor... again, a real shame that this is going to waist...





More bats in one of the bedrooms


This was pretty cool... An authentic first generation telephone... out of order of course...


Apart from the main house and the servants quarters, the standard setup of a coffee fazenda included a washing area, an open space to dry the coffee beans, the "engenho", powered by a big waterwheel, where the coffee was processed, and the stables and milking area for the caddle.



The square where the coffe beans were dried in the Brazilian sun...


The big waterwheel that powered the "engenho" (processing plant")


The "engenho" where the coffee was processed and bagged for exportation...


The washing area...


The only still working area of the fazenda is where the cows are being milked..the overhead automatic milking installation was out of order though.

Some fazendas - like this one - also had a "alambique" (still), where they produced cachaça, the Brazilian rum, made from sugar cane, which is the main ingredient of the famous Brazilian Caipirinha.

It was also interesting to find out that the building where I first saw the people sitting around, used to be a school.
the stables and milking installation are the only parts of this fazenda that are still in use today. The automatic milking installation was out of order though, and since there is no money to repair it, the milking has to be done by hand again.

After talking some more with Adriano, I left, thinking that I could very well have been the first and last "gringo" ever to set foot inside this piece of Brazilian history. If nothing is done sometime soon, the house and everything in it is doomed to rot away and disappear from the face of the earth, and with it, the memories of all who once lived, worked and died here.

About 5 km further down the same road, it was like a whole different world... Adriano had told me to go and take a look at the "Fazenda União". He said it was really beautiful (muito bionito mesmo), and he was right...


the hills in the region look barren and dry after 4 months of almost no rain


the entrance of Fazenda União already suggests a whole different kind of place than the one I just visited.


Yep... Very different. This place looks in perfect state of conservation...


A parking space with expensive cars... This looks like a pricey joint...


The interior, richly decorated


To use Adriano's words: "Muito bonito Meeesmo"

The flip side of it is that to stay in Fazenda União, you'll have to dig deep into your wallet (well, I sure have to), because the cheapest room in this place is 400 BRL (about 250 USD) If you want the best room, you'll pay 590 BRL (or around 370 USD)

I think I'll pass, thank you...

After a short visit of this fazenda, I continued on to the village of Rio das Flores, which in itself isn't all that much of a deal. The only thing I could find that was kind of interesting, was the fact that Brazil's son and "Father of Aviation" Alberto Santos Dumont, was baptized in the Igreja Matriz of Rio das Flores.


City hall in Rio das Flores...


The igreja Matriz, where Alberto Santos Dumont was baptized...


Rio das Flores looks like a lot of other quiet, laid back little towns in the Vale do Café..