Stories of Paraná - A brief but glorious, Anteater existence of

Stories of Paraná - A brief but glorious, Anteater existence of

The brief but glorious, Anteater existence of
Ernesto Carvalho

Anteater - even with that name - could have been one of the largest cities of Paraná, if not the largest, perhaps even the Capital.
Or Iguatemi, São Bento do Tibagy, Vila Nova Conceição and Ivaí Caiacanga.
Towns or villages whose names today are found only in rare history books, had in common the relative importance in the second half of the eighteenth century and the gradual disappearance from 1820.
Because these communities disappeared strange designs is an issue that is not always the history books can clarify.
More to disappear, what happened to those communities that is parked, stopped growing, supported the late historian David Carneiro, fixed the obvious effect and also unable to fathom the cause.
Of all, the story had Anteater more curious.
She was born at the same time that also born Curitiba, as host of a farm field in the second plateau, the thing of a league from the current Palm. And it was no small thing, no.
Besides Curitiba, teaches David Carneiro in his "History of Palm" in the mid-eighteenth century had only four points and were equal importance throughout the vast region of general fields: Lapa, Pinhais, Castro and anteater.
By that time, was a town Anteater in training, was already established in parish, had everything to continue to grow and become a beautiful city.
He had a friendly and attractive colonial chapel devoted to Our Lady of Conception, wealthy families and their households already living there, and had a militia force, from time to time, watching the departure of groups of armed adventurers towards achieving the mysterious West.
Anteater had even one of only two convents of Carmelites of the entire region - the other was in St. Anthony Capon Alto, which also could have turned into town and could only farm, Fazenda Alto Capon, near Castro .
When passed by in 1820, Tamandua caught the attention of French naturalist Saint Hilaire, who ventured a guess, in his writings, predicting that the city would grow there too forward.
It was a guess that most unfortunate.
Precisely at this time, began the slow death of anteater and growth of a nearby hamlet of a league, which a few years before was just a corral cows of a site abandoned.
New Town was founded in 1817, which soon overwhelm anteater named Palm.
On December 8, 1837, the image of Our Lady of the Conception was transferred to the church of anteater Palm.
It was the coup de grace in anteater, which languished what was left languishing even turn into some ruins. Palm already, would be the next 50 years the most important city of the entire interior of Paraná.
What determined the death of anteater and the emergence, from night to day and almost the same place, the important Palm? Fate, who knows.
But are the unsearchable mysteries of fate that decides, for no apparent reason, this exchange of roles between the two communities.

Ernesto Carvalho, broadcaster and researcher


Source: Stories of Paraná, Brasil.