Florianópolis

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Florianópolis

Florianópolis, coastal port and capital of the state of Santa Catarina, was founded in the late seventeenth century and became the provincial capital in 1823 under its original name, Destêrro. In 1893 Custódio José de Melo led a short-lived naval revolt against President Peixoto at Rio de Janeiro and ordered Captain Frederico de Lorena to set up the rebel government seat at Destêrro. That year the city was renamed after president Floriano Peixoto. From then on, the main thrust of the civil war moved from Rio Grande do Sul to Santa Catarina.

As of 2006 the population of Florianópolis was about 406,564. The city lies on Santa Catarina Island, between Baía Norte and Baía Sul. Pointe Hercílio Luz, one of the longest steel suspension bridges in Brazil, is one of two that connect the island and the mainland. Since 1983 it has been closed to traffic. Its natural beauty and forty-two beaches have made Florianópolis a popular tourist resort.

See alsoPeixoto, Floriano Vieira .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

José Maria Bello, A History of Modern Brazil, 1889–1964, translated by James L. Taylor (1966).

Additional Bibliography

Lisboa, Teresa Kleba. Gênero, classe e etnia: Trajetórias de vida de mulheres migrantes. Florianópolis: Editora da UFSC, 2003.

Pimenta, Margareth de Castro Afeche. Florianópolis do outro lado do espelho. Florianópolis: Editora da UFSC, 2005.

                                                      Carolyn E. Vieira

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