Caxangá (Neighbourhood, Recife) |
Lúcia Gaspar The neighbourhood of Caxangá originally was a settlement founded by Canon Francisco Pereira Lopes at the end of the 18th Century. Cleansed by a river with clear water, a pleasant climate and extremely fertile land, it developed rapidly, becoming one of Recife society’s most preferred places for swimming in the river and summering. It also had a mineral water spring on the right riverbankthat was greatly sought after for its medicinal properties. With the conclusion of the first stretch of the PaudalhoRd in 1843 (today corresponding to Caxangá Ave),which started in Madalenaand ended at the settlement, the journey to the settlement could be made in an hour. Previously, it had only been possible to get there on horseback and, due to the bad condition of the routes, it would take around two hours to make the same journey. Caxangá Stationwas the terminal of one of the most important urban train lines known as Maxambomba(machine pump), which belonged to the Companhia de TrilhosUrbanos do Recife, Olinda e Beberibe (Urban Track Company of Recife, Olinda and Beberibe), a company for whom businessman DelmiroGouveia worked for a period. Located next to the railway station in 1883 was theHotel Francês de Caxangá (French Hotel of Caxangá), which offered grand and pleasant rooms, lunch, dinner and supper, as well as special bathing rooms for swimming in the river. In October 1928, an English country club was founded in the neighbourhood: The Pernambuco Golf Club,which became the CaxangáGolf Country Club in 1944,built on the site of an old rural property with a golf course and a racetrack that was named after Count Mauriceof Nassau. Today, despite progress, the Caxangáneighbourhood continues to be an agreeable place with a lot of vegetation and a pleasant climate. Translated by Peter Leamy, February 2012. SOURCES CONSULTED: CAVALCANTI, Carlos Bezerra. O Recife e seus bairros. Recife: Câmara Municipal, 1998. p. 146-148.COSTA, Francisco Augusto Pereira da. Anais pernambucanos. 2. ed. Recife: Fundarpe, Diretoria de Assuntos Culturais, 1983. v. 9, p. 507-511. (Coleção pernambucana, 2a. fase). GALVÃO, Sebastião de Vasconcellos. Diccionario chorographico, histórico e estatístico de Pernambuco. Rio de Janeiro: Imprensa Nacional, 1908. HOW TO CITE THIS TEXT: Source: GASPAR, Lúcia. Caxangá (Neighbourhood, Recife). Pesquisa Escolar Online, Joaquim Nabuco Foudation, Recife. Available at: <http://basilio.fundaj.gov.br/pesquisaescolar/>. Accessed: day month year. Exemple: 6 Aug. 2009
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