Sent: 24 Jan 2017
Arrived: 18 Feb 2017
Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves
UNESCO site
Date of Inscription: 1999
The Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves, in the states of
Paraná and São Paulo, contain some of the best and most extensive examples of
Atlantic forest in Brazil. The 25 protected areas that make up the site (some
470,000 ha in total) display the biological wealth and evolutionary history of
the last remaining Atlantic forests. From mountains covered by dense forests,
down to wetlands, coastal islands with isolated mountains and dunes, the area
comprises a rich natural environment of great scenic beauty.
Sent: 24 Jan 2017
Arrived: 18 Feb 2017
Historic Centre of the Town of Olinda
UNESCO site
Date of Inscription: 1982
The exceptional ensemble of landscape, urbanism and
architecture found in the Historic Centre of the Town of Olinda is an eloquent
reflection of the prosperity nourished by the sugar economy. Founded in 1535 on
hillsides overlooking the Atlantic Ocean on Brazil’s northeast coast, close to
the isthmus of Recife where its port is situated, Olinda served from the last
years of the 16th century onward as one of the most important centres of the
sugarcane industry, which for almost two centuries was the mainstay of the
Brazilian economy. This former capital of the Portuguese administrative
division (capitania) of Pernambuco became the symbol of sugar and of the wealth
it procured. Its historic centre today is marked by a number of architecturally
outstanding buildings set in the lush vegetation of gardens, hedgerows and
convent precincts, a mass of greenery bathed in tropical light with the sandy
shore and ocean below.
Rebuilt by the Portuguese after being looted and burned by
the Dutch, Olinda’s existing historic fabric dates largely from the 18th
century, although it incorporates some older monuments such as the 16th-century
church of São João Batista dos Militares. Olinda became a remarkable nucleus,
first as an economic, architectural and artistic centre, and later as a centre
for the renewal of ideas. The harmonious balance between its buildings,
gardens, convents, numerous small passos (chapels) and about twenty baroque
churches all contribute to the Historic Centre of the Town of Olinda’s
particular charm. It is dominated by the Catedral Alto da Sé, the former Jesuit
church and college (now the church of Nossa Senhora da Graça), the Palácio
Episcopal, the Misericórdia church, the convents of the Franciscans, Carmelites
and Benedictines, and various public buildings ranging from the 17th to 19th
centuries. The studied refinement of the decor of these architectural works
contrasts with the charming simplicity of the houses, many of which are painted
in vivid colours or faced with ceramic tiles. All are located in an informal
web of streets and alleyways and set within a lush tropical forest landscape
overlooking the ocean that differentiates this town and gives it its unique
character.
Criterion (ii): The historic centre of Olinda contains a
number of buildings that are outstanding from the point of view of both their
architecture and decoration, including the Catedral Alto da Sé, the church of
Nossa Senhora da Graça and examples of civil architecture ranging from the 17th
to 19th centuries. The lush vegetation of the roadsides, gardens, hedgerows and
convent precincts all form a landscape in which the salient feature is the town
nestling in a mass of greenery, bathed in tropical light, with the sandy shore
and ocean below.
Thank you Studart!
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