Mosqueiro is an island near the south bank of the

Pará River The Pará River (), also called Parauaú River, Jacaré Grande River, Marajó River Channel, Macacos River Channel, Santa Maria River Channel and Bocas Bay, is a watercourse and immense estuarine complex that functions as a canal between the ...

in the

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian state of

Pará Pará is a state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest are the borders of Guyana a ...

. Since July 6, 1989, the northwest coast of the island has comprised an administrative district of the city of

Belém Belém (; Portuguese for Bethlehem; initially called Nossa Senhora de Belém do Grão-Pará, in English Our Lady of Bethlehem of Great Pará) often called Belém of Pará, is a Brazilian city, capital and largest city of the state of Pará in ...

, roughly north of the downtown area of the city. The island has of beaches with freshwater tides, which draw vacationers primarily in the

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The ...

. The largest settlement on the island is the town of Vila (often referred to simply as Mosqueiro) on the westernmost part of the island.

Origin of the name

Scholars have attributed the name ''Mosqueiro'' to a corruption of the native Tupinambá word ''moqueio'', which referred to the local practice of

smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke is typically breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, which have bee ...

meat and fish. In the early period of

Portuguese colonization Portuguese maritime exploration resulted in the numerous territories and maritime routes recorded by the Portuguese as a result of their intensive maritime journeys during the 15th and 16th centuries. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of Eu ...

, the Tupinambá supplied smoked meat and fish to the city of Belém. The Portuguese, unfamiliar with the term ''moqueio'', called the island ''Mosqueiro'', which was the name of several places on the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

. In

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Port ...

, the word ''mosqueiro'' means "

flypaper Flypaper (also known as a fly ribbon, fly strip, fly capture tape, or fly catcher) is a fly-killing device made of paper coated with a sweetly fragrant, but extremely sticky and sometimes poisonous substance that traps flies and other flying ins ...

Climate

The island has a tropical climate, with an average temperature of . The rainy season peaks in March, while the dry season peaks in November.

Landmarks

Chapéu Virado

The Chapéu Virado is located on the plaza bearing its name, at the intersection of avenues ''16 de Novembro'' and ''Beira Mar''. It was originally a modest inn and restaurant of wood construction, dating from the heyday of the

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, a ...

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...

industry in the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. The hotel was constructed in a mix of European architectural styles, with allowances for the local climate. After the original structure was destroyed by fire, the mayor of Belém and the governor of Pará provided funding for its reconstruction.

(Chapel of the Sacred Heart of Jesus)

The , located on the plaza Chapéu Virado, was constructed by Guilherme Augusto de Miranda Filho in fulfillment of a promise he made to God while ill on the island, in exchange for the return of his health. The chapel was dedicated on December 17, 1909, by the acting archbishop of Belém. On the second Sunday in December, the chapel holds a special observation for the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholic Church, Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocacy, advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, ...

of the people of Mosqueiro.

Villa Porto Franco

Located on the plaza Chapéu Virado, the

neoclassical Neoclassical or neo-classical may refer to: * Neoclassicism or New Classicism, any of a number of movements in the fine arts, literature, theatre, music, language, and architecture beginning in the 17th century ** Neoclassical architecture, an a ...

Villa Porto Franco was once home to Portuguese artist

José Franco José Franco may refer to: * José Franco (artist) (1920–2009), Portuguese potter and sculptor * José Franco (poet) (born 1931), Panama poet and diplomat * José Antonio Franco (footballer, born 1979), Paraguayan footballer * José Antonio Franc ...

Sebastião Rabelo de Oliveira Bridge

The Sebastião Rabelo de Oliveira Bridge, at a length of , connects Mosqueiro with the mainland. The bridge was inaugurated on January 12, 1976, with Brazilian president

Ernesto Geisel Ernesto Beckmann Geisel (, ; 3 August 1907 – 12 September 1996) was a Brazilian Army officer and politician, who was President of Brazil from 1974 to 1979, during the Brazilian military regime. Early life and family Ernesto Geisel was born ...

in attendance.

(Mosqueiro Island Municipal Park)

Since 1988, of the island have been set aside as a municipal park by the city of Belém, which is seeking to promote

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide fund ...

. The park includes of trails. The Brazilian

Ministry of the Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

has approved an investment of R$200,000 (approximately

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

90,000 ) in physical infrastructure, including a pier, administrative building, and research center.

Wildlife

In June 2011, an amphibian identified as belonging to the species ''

Atretochoana eiselti ''Atretochoana eiselti'' is a species of caecilian originally known only from two preserved specimens discovered by Sir Graham Hales in the Brazilian rainforest, while on an expedition with Sir Brian Doll in the late 1800s, but rediscovered in 2 ...

'' was photographed near Praia de Marahú, on the island of Mosqueiro. ''A. eiselti'', previously known only from two preserved specimens dating from the late 1800s, is the largest known lungless tetrapod.

Gallery

File:Mosqueiro welcome arch.jpg, alt=Welcome arch on Pará Highway 391, which reads (in Portuguese): "Mosqueiro: our beach, our home" , Welcome arch on Pará Highway 391, which reads (in Portuguese): "Mosqueiro: our beach, our home" File:Praia do paraiso.jpg, alt=Praia do Paraiso (Paradise Beach), on the north of the island , Praia do Paraiso (Paradise Beach), on the north of the island File:Mosqueiro_mercado_municipal.jpg, alt=Façade of the municipal market in the town of Vila, in the southwest of the island , Municipal market in the town of Vila, in the southwest of the island File:Embratel point-to-point dish.jpg, Point-to-point

radio dish A parabolic antenna is an antenna that uses a parabolic reflector, a curved surface with the cross-sectional shape of a parabola, to direct the radio waves. The most common form is shaped like a dish and is popularly called a dish antenna or para ...

(retired) at

Embratel Embratel is a major Brazilian telecommunications company headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. The company was the long distance arm of Telebras until it was bought by the U.S. company MCI Communications for 2.65 billion reais during the 1998 brea ...

facility, facing west across the Baia de

Marajó Marajó () is a large coastal island in the state of Pará, Brazil. It is the main and largest of the islands in the Marajó Archipelago. Marajó Island is separated from the mainland by Marajó Bay, Pará River, smaller rivers (especially M ...

References

External links

{{Municipalities of Pará Islands of the Amazon Landforms of Pará River islands of Brazil Belém