Brazil Holidays - Discovery Day

In the XV-XVII centuries, the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, Europeans discovered new continents and countries Celebrations dedicated to these events are combined into a group of holidays called Discovery Day It includes the discovery of the Bahamas and Cayman Islands by H Columbus in 1492 and 1503, and Guam by F Magellan Pedro Alvarez Cabral became the first European in history to land on the shores of Brazil on April 22, 1500 This happened along the route of the Portuguese traveler with an expedition from Europe to India The flotilla, under the command of Cabral, consisted of 2 squadrons with 13 ships and more than 1,200 sailors on board After a public farewell, the ships, in honor of whose voyage a solemn mass was held, set sail from Lisbon on March 9, 1500 A month and a half later, they anchored at a place called by the conquerors Monte Pascoal (“Easter Mountain”), located in the northeast of what is now Brazil The Portuguese went ashore and established contact with the local population, exchanging greetings and gifts In honor of this important event, the Discovery Day of Brazil is celebrated annually on April 22, part of Discovery Day The Aborigines, according to the observations of sailors, lived in the Stone Age, subsisting on gathering and hunting Countless tribes constantly competed and fought, some of them practiced cannibalism In an attempt to convert the indigenous population to the Christian faith, on April 26, in honor of Easter Sunday, a 7-meter cross was erected in the soil of a sandbank in Porto Seguro on the southern coast of Bahia and the first mass was held The service, conducted by Henry of Coimbra, was attended by Indians and Portuguese Therefore, the new land was named Ilha de Vera Cruz ("Island of the True Cross") On April 27, one of the ships of the flotilla set sail for Portugal to notify King Manuel of the discovery In 1501, Italian traders, after meeting and talking with seafarers in Lisbon, began to call the new territories Terra dos Papagaios (“Land of the Parrots”) Almost at the same time, the Spanish traveler Amerigo Vespucci, who mapped the coast of South America, designated the country as Mundus Novus (“New World”) The name Brasil (short form of Terra do Brasil) was given later by a trading consortium led by Fernau de Loronha, by analogy with brasa - a tree from which from the 12th century furniture and musical instruments were made in the Old World Before the discovery of South America by the Portuguese, it was supplied to Europe by Arab traders Brazilwood wood was also used to create a red-violet dye, which was actively used by the textile industry The colonial period in Brazil lasted three centuries - from 1500 to 1815 In addition to valuable timber, Europeans exported sugar cane, coffee and, most importantly, gold from the country A popular uprising on September 7, 1821 ended the occupation and slavery On December 1, Don Pedro I, a defender of the rights of the local population, was crowned, and Brazil was proclaimed an empire independent of Portugal In memory of this event, the country celebrates Dia da Independência every year And in honor of the appearance of Europeans on the continent, the Discovery of Brazil Day is widely celebrated on April 22 with music and dance in all cities of the country