Monument Abertura dos Portos (English: ''Monument to the Opening of the Ports'') is located in the Largo de São Sebastião, in front of the

Amazon Theatre The Amazon Theatre () is an opera house located in Manaus, Brazil, in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. It is the location of the annual '' Festival Amazonas de Ópera'' (Amazonas Opera Festival) and the home of the Amazonas Philharmonic Orc ...

, in the city of

Manaus Manaus () is the List of capitals of subdivisions of Brazil, capital and largest city of the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Amazonas (Brazilian state), Amazonas. It is the List of largest cities in Brazil, seventh-largest city in Brazil, w ...

, Brazil. It was inaugurated in 1900 to commemorate the liberation of the ports of the Amazon River to foreign trade, in 1866.

History

The monument was inaugurated in the first decade of the 1900s to commemorate the opening of the Amazon River ports for foreign trade in 1866. All material used on the monument was imported from Europe, especially

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The monument symbolizes the four corners of the world: Asia, America, Africa and Europe, each represented by a ship, with a seated boy on the prow of each ship. The monument displays the date of November 15, 1889, which commemorates the proclamation of the Republic of Brazil, and the name of José Cardoso Ramalho Júnior, at that time Governor of Amazonas State. In 1995, the square was fully restored by the prefecture of

Features

The monument is an allegory of trade, and was built in marble, granite and bronze. The god Mercury, symbol of Industry and Commerce, is at the top of the monument. The main figure is composed by the sculpture of a woman - representing the Amazon - with a torch in the right hand, while the left hand rests on the shoulder of the god Mercury - Roman deity that symbolizes Commerce - placed on the lower plane. In the faces of the quadrangular pedestal, four continents of the terrestrial globe are portrayed. In the

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

's boat, sitting on a head that symbolizes the

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, with symbols also Egyptian, a boy holds two tusks of elephant; the boat of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, which displays an eagle to the bow, shows a boy holding a globe; the

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

n boat shows the "croissant", symbol of the

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, ancient characters engraved at the bow and the boy to the backs of a lion; in the ship of

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

are grouped several decorative elements, with a boy to the bow and a snake curled up in the keel of the boat. The floor that has sinuous designs that later would have inspired the sidewalks of Copacabana, in the city of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, symbolize the meeting of the waters of the rivers

Negro In the English language, the term ''negro'' (or sometimes ''negress'' for a female) is a term historically used to refer to people of Black people, Black African heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color black in Spanish and Portuguese (from ...

and Solimões.

References

Buildings and structures in Amazonas (Brazilian state) Neoclassical architecture in Brazil {{Brazil-struct-stub

History

Features

See also

References