Stories of Paraná - Pedro and the Ruthenians

Stories of Paraná - Pedro and the Ruthenians

Pedro and the Ruthenians
Daniel Jacobus Fabri

Ruthenians? For those who do not know, I'll explain later what they are.
Meanwhile, let our story, which begins when D. Pedro II came to visit the Paraná, in May 1880.
As we reported Pedro Calmon (in "Historia de Dom Pedro II, vol 3, p. 1211/19), the script of this visit began in Paranaguá. Upon disembarking the ship Rio Grande and fulfill the commitments in the city, the Emperor goes to Antonina and hence Curitiba.
To climb the Serra do Mar, via Graciosa Road, Emperor boasts "the coachmen, handsome boys of German family", which led uphill to Middle River, where it was overnight at "home pine wood land . " (She was the widow Fields). "Then, in Curitiba, the entrance was at Alto da Gloria - (neighborhood where today is located the field Coritiba Football Club, the Couto Pereira, host to major sporting events, civic and religious) - at 14:30 am on 21 May 1880, and three paddocks and a squad of Germans escorted his carriage to the manor of Franco Antonio Martins, where he stayed.

Girls 21 neighboring colonies
- Italian, Bavarian, Polish, Ruthenian, come in costumes.
Such was the state of Paraná. "
Recall that, in 22 days, D. Pedro II inaugurated the Santa Casa de Curitiba, "the rivets Gothic as befitted the land that would populate Nordic people."
On the 24th, the imperial entourage left for Campo Largo, Serrinha, St. Louis, and Palm Pugas, staying at the townhouse of Baroness Tibagy, Dona Querubina, mother Jesuíno Marcondes.
Followed to Ponta Grossa, Castro, and in return, the Emperor, amazed, "arrepela in Vila Velha, an architecture rendilha castle crumbled to the waters carved out." (Today, it is known that the formation of Vila Velha was the work of wind erosion). Passed through Cologne Mariental, Lapa, Curitiba, Paranaguá, where D. Pedro II went straight to the releases of the cornerstone of the railway station.
And something like this was the visit of the King to Paraná.
Oh, before I forget, the more marked the Emperor was the reception at Alto da Glória.
A real bash, truth be told. The old emperor had the privilege of attending the dances of groups of girls from 21 colonies of immigrants, with an advantage: the girls were dressed, not costumes, but with the originals, mainly Ruthenian undoubtedly the most eccentric.
Imagine the confusion that was the party, real tower of babel. Only the Ruthenians formed at the time, a block consisting of a Slavic salad European peoples coming from Galatia, Hungary and Lithuania.
No one understood.
However ... "Gives them party!"

Daniel Jacobus Fabri, chemical engineer

Source: Stories of Paraná, Brasil.