Serra, Espírito Santo, Southeast Region, Brazil

🇧🇷 Serra is a municipality in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil. Bordering the north of the state's capital, Vitória, the municipality is part of the Greater Vitória metropolitan area.

Serra, the seat of the municipality, is to the north of the characteristic Mestre Álvaro mountain which juts out of the coastal lowlands, and which is said to look like a small mountain range or "serra", in Portuguese, which is where the town and municipality got its name.

Another important point is Jacaraípe Beach, known as the headquarters of surfing championships, as well as small fishing villages such as Manguinhos. In the locality of Nova Almeida, a resort on the north coast of the municipality, there is, in the old Church of the Kings Magos, the first oil painting painted in Brazil. There is also another resort, the Carapebus beach.

The retail trade of the municipality has greater prominence in the neighborhood Parque Residencial Laranjeiras, which has the Shoppings Laranjeiras and Montserrat (Colina de Laranjeiras), as well as the Central Avenue, the First Avenue and the Second Avenue as prominent points in commerce.

History Its founders were Maracajá-guaçu (name that, translated from Tupi, means great cat-maracajá), father of Arariboia and head of the temiminós Indians and the Jesuit priest Brás Lourenço, who, on December 8, 1603, finished the work of the church and, thus, founded the Village of Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Serra, today the

The Temiminós Indians had moved to the captaincy of Espírito Santo, from the current Ilha do Governador, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Its leaders were Maracajá-guaçu and his son Arariboia, who were highly prestigious by the donee Vasco Fernandes Coutinho - who had begun the co-colonization of Espírito Santo on May 23, 1535. They always participated in the main events and solemnities of the captaincy. The other founder, the Jesuit priest Brás Lourenço, had arrived from Portugal in 1553, along with the also Jesuit priest José de Anchieta.

The Village of Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Serra was elevated to a parish by royal charter of May 24, 1752 but was only installed in 1769, after building the new main church, which had, by branch, the Ermida de São José.

The then Parish of Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Serra was elevated to the category of village in 1822.

The municipality of Serra was created in 1833, with territory dismembered from the municipality of Vitória, through the resolution of the Governing Council of April 2, 1833 and installed on August 19 of that year.

On March 19, 1849, a movement to liberation of the slaves was triggered in São José do Queimado (currently, a district of Serra), which was demobilized by the military force of the time and which led to the hanging of two of the leaders of the revolt: Chico Prego and João da Viúva. The first, hanged in the then Vila de Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Serra and the second, hanged in the Vila de São José do Queimado.

On November 6, 1870, the seat of the municipality was elevated to the category of city. The installation was solemn, with a party organized by the provincial deputy Major Joaquim Pereira Franco Pis tiara and local politicians on the day of Dom Pedro II's birthday - December 31, 1875. Major Pissarra was the author of the law that transformed the village of Serra into a city.

In the 19th century, the Serra developed a lot, for being an inter-commerce for the northern region of the state and also for its production of sugar and coffee. At the beginning of the 20th century, a process of decay was initiated. São José de Queimado, today the district of Serra, located on the banks of the Santa Maria da Vitória River, had a port called Porto do Una, where it was embarked, in large canoes that held more than one hundred bags of coffee, the production of the Serra region and where the imported products that met local needs were landed. The river served as a route for transport in general, including for the integration of Vitória with the Serra and with the north of Espírito Santo.

With the advent of the Vitória a Minas Railroad and, later, the World Economic Crisis of 1929, which affected the coffee trade and, consequently, the economy of the Serra, the village of São José do Queimado disappeared, with practically no more houses left in the place, other than a few residences of local farmers.

In the village, there is only the ruin of the Church of São José, because the trade began to take place directly with Vitória and, consequently, the Village of Queimado disappeared and the Serra waned.

In 1921, the construction of the first road between Serra and Vitória began, idealized and coordinated its construction by the serrano Cassiano Cardoso Castello, then Secretary of Interior and Justice of the State of Espírito Santo, in the Nestor Gomes Government. The road was completed in 1923 with labor of prisoners and aimed to internalize state development and rescue the glory days of the Serra.

On 11.11.1938 - Decree-Law No. 9,941 is edited, which establishes the territorial division of the State, which will be in force without amendment, from January 1, 1939 to December 31, 1943, and makes other provisions, signed by João Punaro Bley, Celso Calmon Nogueira da Gama, Nelson Goulart Monteiro, Lucas A. Zinger and Carlos Femando Monteiro Lindemberg who thus fixed the limits of the municipality of Serra, comprised by the headquarters districts, Ita­pocú (now Calogi) and Nova Almeida.

The above decree was issued in accordance with the general rules laid down by National Organic Law No. 311 of March 2, 1938. At this time the districts of Queimado and Carapina belonged to Vitória, and the current district of Calogi had the toponym of Itapocú.

On 31.12.1943 - The municipality of Serra becomes the districts of Carapina, Nova Almeida - which was once the headquarters district of the municipality of the same name, Queimado, Serra and Calogi (former Itapo­cu), according to Decree-Law No. 15.177/1943. The municipality had two distinct phases of its economy: the initial rural, a phase in which it produced sugar cane, coffee, cassava and, to a lesser extent cereals, and also, extraction of hardwood. There was a beginning of agribusiness, somewhat rudimentary, with sugar and brandy production mills, as well as flour production and rice processing machines and corn cornmeal production.

In the 1950s, a large production of pineapple began. The fruits were sold to other states of the country and also exported to other countries, mainly Argentina.

At the beginning of the 1950s, the construction of BR 101 began, which promoted, although, at the beginning, timidly, the progress of the Serra. The municipality again experienced new development, in a marked way, from the 60s (20th century).

In its first phase, rural, the population was almost constant. There was a reduction after the year 1872. This year it had 11,032 inhabitants, a fact caused, among others, by the opening of the Vitória a Minas Railway (EFVM), when the inauguration of the first stretch: Porto Velho - Cariacica (km 17.26) - Alfredo Maia (km 28.873) took place on May 13, 1904, which led the residents of the region to trade directly with Vitória. The reduction in the population of Serra was also due to the rural exodus, a phenomenon that happened throughout Brazil.

In 1960, the second phase, the industrial phase, began. The Serra had a population of 9,192 inhabitants, from this date, investments in the region begin and the urban configuration of the municipality changes; the district of Carapina goes through a process of great development. In 1963 the Port of Tubarão was started, and in 1969 the CIVIT I was started, which led the population of the municipality of Serra, in 1970 to 17,286 inhabitants. In the 1970s, another large investment is started in mountain soil. In 1976 the construction of the Companhia Siderúrgica de Tubarão - CST began, which leveraged new population growth, because in 1980, the municipality already had a population of 82,450 inhabitants. In the IBGE census of 2000 a population of 330,874 was found, inhabitants who, with the advent of the hot strip rolling mill of CST and its project for the installation of its third blast furnace, a new outbreak of economic development and population growth will be experienced.

The main shopping centres of the municipalities are: Parque Residencial Laranjeiras, Porto Canoa, Barcelona, Serra Sede, Planalto Serrano, Jacaraipe, Nova Almeida, Feu Rosa, Novo Horizonte and Bairro de Fátima.

Neighbourhoods • André Carloni • Alterosa • Bairro de Fátima • Balneário de Carapebus • Barcelona • Barro Branco • Bicanga • Boa Vista • Carapina • Cascata • Central Carapina • Chácara Parreiral • Cidade Continental • Cidade Pomar • Colina de Laranjeiras • Divinópolis • El Dourado • Eurico Salles • Feu Rosa • Hélio Ferraz • Jacaraípe • Jardim Carapina • Jardim Limoeiro • Jardim Tropical • José de Anchieta • Laranjeiras • Laranjeiras II • Laranjeiras Velha • Mata da Serra • Manoel Plaza • Morada de Laranjeiras • Nova Almeida • Nova Carapina I • Nova Carapina II • Novo Horizonte • Novo Porto Canoa • Parque Residência de Laranjeiras • Parque Residência de Tubarão • Porto Canoa • Rosário de Fátima • Santo Antonio • São Diogo I • São Diogo II • São Geraldo • São Marcos I • São Marcos II • São Marcos III • Serra Dourada I • Serra Dourada II • Serra Dourada III • Taquara • Taquara I • Taquara I • Taquara III • Valparaíso • Vila Nova De Colares.

Culture Among the points of culture of the municipality, some institutions stand out. One of the main places of cultural conservation is the Historical Museum of Serra, inaugurated in 2007, in the mansion that belonged to the family of Judith Leão Castello Ribeiro, the first woman to become a deputy in Brazil. As part of the collection are documents, furniture, objects (such as pipes, binoculars and mirrors), works of art and items related to the history of its illustrious residents and the constitution of the municipality.

Another renowned institution is the Casa de Congo, an important institution in the state of Espírito Santo inaugurated in 2000, by the Secretariat of Culture (Secult), which aims to gather the collection and memory of the Congo in the municipality.

The municipality is still contemplated with two municipal libraries, in addition to the library linked to the municipal council of the municipality, one mobile library and two organized in a community way, that is, detached from the state government and without links with the private initiative.

Transport: Public The municipality is served by the Transcol System, which in addition to being responsible for taking passengers to neighboring municipalities, also the company that provides services for transportation within the Serra. To carry out this complex operation, the municipality of Serra was contemplated with three urban bus terminals, namely, the terminals of Carapina, Laranjeiras and Jacaraípe. The Carapina terminal is located in the district of the same name and receives an average of 50,000 people per day. Today in the bus station it is in a degrading state, a fact that led the local government to announce its reform planned for the beginning in 2013.

The Laranjeiras Terminal, located in the neighborhood of the same name, is the largest in the entire state, receiving around 100,000 people a day. It underwent a recent renovation in 2009 and therefore has three boarding platforms in addition to a complex of varied stores to serve users of the Transcol System. In turn, the Jacaraípe Terminal, located in a homonymous district, is the newest in the city and has a modern architecture.

Road Transport The municipality also has a private bus terminal of Viação Águia Branca, located in the neighborhood of Carapina, on the banks of BR-101, where trips are offered by interstate and intermunicipal lines of the company. In addition to BR-101, the municipality is also served by the ES-010 and ES-264 highways.

Rail Transport Because its territory is crossed by the Vitória a Minas Railway (EFVM), which has a railway yard, Serra has an intense traffic of passenger and cargo trains on a daily basis. Despite the circulation, the municipality ceased to be served by trains a few years ago, with the nearest railway stations located in the municipalities of Fundão and Cariacica.

Taxis In addition to the buses, the city has taxi stands spread throughout the municipality.