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, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian state of

Pará Pará () is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian st ...

. 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 the capital and largest city of the state of Pará in the north of B ...

, 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 t ...

. 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 combusted, and the resulting smoke is typically inhaled to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream of a person. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, whi ...

meat and fish. In the early period of

Portuguese colonization Portuguese maritime explorations resulted in numerous territories and maritime routes recorded by the Portuguese on journeys during the 15th and 16th centuries. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of European exploration, chronicling and mapp ...

, 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 ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

. In Portuguese, the word ''mosqueiro'' means "

flypaper A fly-killing device is used for pest control of flying insects, such as houseflies, wasps, moths, gnats, and mosquitoes. Flyswatter A flyswatter (or fly-swat, fly swatter) usually consists of a small rectangular or round sheet of a lightweig ...

History

The Tupinambá had fled to Mosqueiro after the arrival of Europeans in the North-East of Brazil. They were there when the Portuguese arrived. At the beginning of the 18th Century, the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and the Aruã laid siege to the village Murubira on the island for a year. The

rubber boom The Amazon rubber cycle or boom (, ; , ) was an important part of the socioeconomic history of Brazil and Amazonian regions of neighboring countries, being related to the commercialization of rubber and the genocide of indigenous peoples. Cente ...

brought electricity to the island. It also started to be sought as a tourist destination. On 12 January 1976, a long bridge called Ponte Sebastião R. de Oliveira was inaugurated, connecting it to the mainland.

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. Types of polyisoprene ...

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

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 Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of the people of Mosqueiro.

Villa Porto Franco

Located on the plaza Chapéu Virado, the neoclassical 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) (1931–2022), Panama poet and diplomat * José Antonio Franco (footballer, born 1979), Paraguayan footballer * José Antonio Fra ...

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 served as the 29th president of Brazil from 1974 to 1979, during the Brazilian military dictatorship. Born to German Lutheran ...

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 nature-oriented tourism intended to contribute to the Ecological conservation, conservation of the natural environment, generally defined as being minimally impactful, and including providing both contributions to conserv ...

. The park includes of trails. The Brazilian Ministry of the Environment has approved an investment of R$200,000 (approximately

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

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

Neighbourhoods

Formally part of the city of Belém, Mosqueiro is administratively divided into the following neighbourhoods (''bairros''): *Aeroporto *Ariramba *Baía do Sol *Bonfim *Carananduba *Caruara *Chapéu Virado *Farol *Furo das Marinhas *Mangueiras *Maracajá *Marahú *Murubira *Natal Murubira *Paraíso *Porto Arthur *Praia Grande *São Francisco *Vila

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 (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 bre ...

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