Penedo is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the state of

Alagoas Alagoas () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil and is situated in the eastern part of the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. It borders: Pernambuco (N and NW); Sergipe (S); Bahia (SW); and the Atlantic Ocean (E). Its capital is ...

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 ...

. The population is 63,846 (2020 est.) in an area of . Penedo lies south-west of the state capital of

Maceió Maceió (), formerly anglicised as Maceio, is the capital and the largest city of the coastal state of Alagoas, Brazil. The name "Maceió" is an Indigenous term for a Spring (hydrology), spring. Most maceiós flow to the sea, but some get trapped ...

. In October 2023, Penedo joined the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Creative Cities Network The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is a flagship city programme of UNESCO launched in 2004 to promote cooperation among cities which have recognized culture and creativity as strategic drivers of sustainable urban development Urban means ...

and was named a UNESCO

City of Film UNESCO's City of Film project is part of the wider Creative Cities Network. Film is one of seven creative fields in the Network, the others: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts, and Music. Criteria To be approved a ...

History

Founded in 1614, Penedo has many important examples of Portuguese and

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

colonial

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

s. The history of Penedo can be found in

Francisco Alberto Sales Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Meaning of the name Francisco In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed " Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comm ...

's book ''Arruando para o Forte''. It was reached by sea from the wide estuary of the

São Francisco River The São Francisco River (, ) is a large Rivers of Brazil, river in Brazil. With a length of , it is the longest river that runs entirely in Brazilian territory, and the fourth longest in South America and overall in Brazil (after the Amazon R ...

. The unclassified extinct

Wakoná language Wakoná (Aconã) is an extinct and unattested, presumed language of eastern Brazil, formerly spoken by the Tingui-Botó, also called the Aconã. The dispersed ethnic population numbered an estimated 500 to 1,000 in 1995. The population now uses ...

was formerly spoken in Penedo. Loukotka (1968) reported that the remaining ethnic descendants who speak only Portuguese could be found in the city of

Porto Real do Colégio Porto Real do Colégio is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Alagoas. Former indigenous languages The unclassified extinct Wakoná language was formerly spoken in Penedo. Loukotka (1968) reported that the remaining ethnic descen ...

Architectural heritage

Among its historically significant buildings are its well preserved churches, which were built through the 18th century. Some of these include: * Convento de São Francisco e Igreja de Nossa Senhora dos Anjos
(''Convent of Saint Francis and Church of Our Lady of the Angels'') * Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Corrente
(''Church of Our Lady of the Chains'') * Catedral de Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos, Cathedral of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Penedo The Roman Catholic Diocese of Penedo () is a diocese located in the city of Penedo in the ecclesiastical province of Maceió in Brazil. History * April 3, 1916: Established as Diocese of Penedo from the Diocese of Alagôas Bishops * Bishop ...

.
(''Cathedral of Our Lady of the Black People's Rosary'') The

Casa do Penedo Casa do Penedo ( Portuguese for ''Stone House'' or ''House of the Rock'') is an architectural monument located between Celorico de Basto and Fafe, in northern Portugal. It received its name because it was built from four large boulders that ser ...

, built in 1974, has as its objective the preservation of the city's artistic and cultural patrimony. In the Casa do Penedo one can find a rich quantity of five centuries of creativity by residents of the

Valley.

In literature

Penedo is the location in ''

The Far Side of the World ''The Far Side of the World'' is the tenth historical novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1984. The story is set during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. The story from ''Treason's Harbour'' has se ...

'', a novel by Patrick O'Brian set in the era when both the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

and the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

were underway, where HMS ''Surprise'' pulls in for repairs. The ship stays longer than expected when she gets stuck in the river due to its rapidly changing tides.

References

Municipalities in Alagoas Populated places established in 1614 1614 establishments in South America 1614 establishments in the Portuguese Empire {{Alagoas-geo-stub

History

Architectural heritage

In literature

See also

References