It was in 1534, exactly thirty-four years after the arrival of Pedro Álvares Cabral in Brazil, that the area in which the State of Ceará is currently located has gained its first official nomenclature. The area that would be donated by the then King of Portugal, D. João III to the Portuguese Antônio Cardoso de Barros, was called the Captaincy of Siará.
The measure aimed to facilitate the colonization and protection of lands belonging to the Portuguese crown, dividing Brazil into 14 hereditary captaincies - which, therefore, would be passed on from father to son. The lands given to the donated Antonio Cardoso de Barros extended, in horizontal band, by the present Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte and Maranhão.
However, the region did not interest the new grantee. The high costs for the installation of the structure of exploitation of the vast area and the indigenous resistance are some of the topics pointed to the difficulty of progress of the captaincies as a whole, not exclusively to Siará.
One region of the Portuguese crown that experienced good fruits with the captaincies was the Azores. And it was from there that the first colonizer emerged who effectively undertook in Ceará the Portuguese interests. Pero Coelho de Sousa led the first expedition to the region in 1603
Pero's fleet built the first colonial building in Ceará, the São Tiago Fort, on the banks of the Ceará River, and baptized the town of Nova Lisboa. The natives, however, undertook strong resistance to Pero Coelho's squadron, due to the attempted enslavement, and participated in the fall of the São Tiago Fort. With this, the Portuguese were forced to migrate to the region of the Jaguaribe River, erecting the Fortim de São Lourenço. However, in 1607, the difficulties inherent in the installation of such a complex enterprise were catalyzed by severe drought and Pero Coelho decided to abandon the journey in Ceará.
Between 1611 and 1612, it was the turn of another Portuguese, Martim Soares Moreno, to reach Ceará. Appointed as true colonizer of the region, for the efforts undertaken and years of experience, he settled in the captaincy with small entourage, next to a priest and six soldiers.
The first undertaking was to erect, in the present Barra do Ceará, in Fortaleza, the Fort of São Sebastião, at the same point that had received the Fort of São Tiago. After a recess, in which he fought against the invasions of Equinocial France, in Maranhão, returned to Siará in 1621, with the title of chief captain.
Martim tried unsuccessfully to encourage local colonization by raising livestock and growing sugarcane. Still it sought support from the Portuguese authorities, but without obtaining a satisfactory return. In 1631, ten years after he ascended to the post of chief captain, and without achieving the desired results, he left the captaincy and left the command to his nephew, Domingos da Veiga.
In 1637, Ceará was occupied by the Dutch. Records indicate that George Gartsman commanded fleet with 126 men, who appropriated the fort, dismembering the dominion Lusitanian in the captaincy. Seven years later, the foreigners suffered heavy fighting from the natives, who destroyed the fortification. With this, the Ceará returned to be dominated by the natives.
In 1649, a new Dutch expedition would generate the construction that gives name to the capital of the cearenses until today. Matias Beck erected, this time on the banks of the Pajeú Creek, the Schoonenborch Fort. The building would be conquered by the Portuguese in 1654, headed by Álvaro de Azevedo Barreto, and renamed Fortress of Our Lady of the Assumption. The name is maintained until the present day, when the fortification hosts the 10th Military Region.
It was from there that the colonization took place more quickly, with the formation of the village of Forte.
But the first village officially created by royal order in the captaincy, on February 13, 1699, was that of Aquiraz. It was inhabited by indigenous and Portuguese - many religious - who explored the areas near Ponta do Iguape. It became regional administrative headquarters between 1713 and 1726, when Fortaleza reached the same status and the capital was modified definitively.
Occupation
Over the years, the massive Siará occupation process unfolded on two fronts. The first centered efforts in the coastal area and won the nickname of sertão-fora, with strong presence of Pernambucans. Already antithesis, the hinterland, had influence of Bahia. Driven by livestock, space became more uniformly occupied, giving rise to several urban conglomerates. It was the beginning of what was called the "Leather Civilization", since the ox's culture provided different financial and subsistence aspects, such as the trade in meat, milk and leather.
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the development of the region led to the emergence of cities such as Aracati, the main port of the charque trade, Sobral, Icó, Acaraú, Camocim and Granja. Fortress was gaining space, and in its wake, the neighboring towns, such as Caucaia, Crato, Messejana and Parangaba (now neighborhoods of the Capital).
It was at the turn of the century, precisely in 1799, that Siará achieved administrative independence from the captaincy of Pernambuco, a condition that it had experienced since 1680. It was at the new moment of the region that the development of a new economic matrix, : the cotton. The so-called "Ouro Branco" was a strong impulse factor for the growth of cities in the Interior and for the increase of commercial transactions with other regions of Brazil.
The captaincy became a province on the eve of the Independence of Brazil on February 28, 1821. Throughout the empire the Siará remained with this designation until, with the Proclamation of the Brazilian Republic, in 1889, the province gave place to the present State of Ceará .
The tourist attractions of Ceará go beyond famous beaches such as Fortaleza, Aquiraz, Jericoacoara and Canoa Quebrada. The state has extensive cultural diversity, parks and waterfalls for greater contact with nature and craft trade centers. Lace, leather goods, sand bottles and artisanal cachaças can be found in places such as the Central Market and the Ceará Tourism Center, but also in craft trades scattered throughout the state.
Winds, topography and climate are the ideal setting for practicing adventure sports on the beach, in the mountains or in the hinterland. Cumbuco and Jericoacoara are among the beaches most sought after by tourists.
The Ceará Event Center (CEC) is capable of hosting 44 events simultaneously. They are 176,899 square meters of total area, with capacity for more than 30 thousand people and 3,200 parking spaces. In addition, the state has structures such as the Port of Pecém and the Industrial District.
Ceará has 30 degree heat year-round, even in rainy season, which favors a visit to the various beaches of the state.
There are restaurants specializing in typical foods from Ceará and Brazil, such as feijoada, baião de dos and moqueca. But there are also many choices of contemporary and sophisticated food.
The Eclipse Museum, in the northern region of Ceará, tells the story of the eclipse observed in 1919 by Albert Einstein's team in Sobral, who helped prove the theory of relativity. In the Cariri region, the Araripe Geopark and the Paleontology Museum stand out, with 750 pieces of fossils of animals and plants from the Cretaceous that tell the prehistoric life of the Cariri region.
Rich in craftsmanship, Ceará produces crochet, wood, ceramic, embroidery, wicker, straw, bamboo, knitting and lace pieces. The semiprecious stones are also explored, transformed into creative jewelry, especially in Quixadá and Quixeramobim. In Juazeiro do Norte, besides the religiosity, one can accompany the craft of craftsmen who make pieces of wood and objects of decoration and utensils for home. In Beberibe, the colored sands are used in the production of bottles with landscapes by the local artisans. In Fortaleza, the José de Alencar House, José de Alencar Theater, the Dragon Center of the Sea of Art and Culture and the Metropolitan Cathedral stand out.
The Baturité Massif has waterfalls, lots of greenery and trails for birdwatching, orchids and other natural beauties. The Ubajara National Park is one of the options for those visiting the Ibiapaba Region. In addition, the Central Hinterland has the Monumental Valley and the Cariri region, organized trails in the Araripe National Forest. Fortaleza has the Cocó Park.
Juazeiro do Norte, Canindé and Quixadá are the main destinations of pilgrims.
