Ilhéus

Infobox City
official_name = Ilhéus
settlement_type = Municipality
official_name = The Municipality of
São Jorge dos Ilhéos
nickname = "Princesinha do Sul" (Little Princess of the South)
motto =


imagesize = 275px
image_caption = Beach in Ilhéus
(June 2006)


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mapsize = 275px
map_caption = Location of Ilhéus
subdivision_type = Region
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_type2 =
subdivision_name = Nordeste
subdivision_name1 = Bahia
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leader_title = Mayor
leader_name = Newton Lima
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established_title = Founded
established_date = 28 June 1881
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area_magnitude =
area_total_km2 = 1840.991
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population_as_of = 2006
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population_total = 220943
population_density_km2 = 120
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utc_offset = -3
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latd=14 |latm=47 |lats=20 |latNS=S
longd=39 |longm=02 |longs=56 |longEW=W
elevation_m = 52
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Ilhéus is a major city located in the southern coastal region of Bahia, Brazil, 430 km south of Salvador, the state's capital. The city was originally founded in 1534 as Vila de São Jorge dos Ilhéus and is known as one of the most important tourism centers of the northeast of Brazil.

The city's economy is based mainly on tourism, as a result of its beautiful beaches and a rich cultural heritage that includes early Portuguese buildings, history and culinary distinctions, which bring to the city many Brazilian and foreign tourists. Ilheus has approximately 222,000 habitants, with an area of 1850 km sq, and its downtown is located 1 km away from the Atlantic Ocean. Once one of the biggest producers of cocoa, the city depends almost entirely on tourism. Ilhéus has a very good infrastructure for tourism, including excellent hotels and many travel agencies.

Ilhéus is easily reachable by air with multiple flights daily from both Salvador and São Paulo on TAM Brazilian Airlines and Gol Linhas Aereas.

Ilhéus is also the hometown of Jorge Amado, the best known and most popular writer in Brazil. He wrote over 25 novels, which were translated into 48 languages and stayed on bestseller lists in 52 countries. His novels like "Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon" and "Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands" portray life and customs in the Northeastern region of Brazil. The plots of these and his other major works largely treat the lives of poor urban and rural black and mulatto communities of Bahia, as well as the land wars that raged in Ilhéus, where cocoa barons killed each other for power and cocoa plantations.

Attractions

Beaches

;Do Norte (Northern Beach)Mixing a strip of coconut trees with rich vegetation of native Atlantic Forest, running parallel to the beach for many kilometers there is the Almada River. There visitors will find standardized stalls and a very long bike lane. It is a good place for swimming, walking, surfing, and fishing.

;São Miguel (da Barra) (Saint Michael’s Beach – Beach of the Sandbank)It is a beautiful beach, with a vast field of coconut trees, clear sands, and calm waters. The infrastructure on the beach includes stalls and lodges located in the local fishermen’s village.

;Da Avenida (Beach of the Avenue)Centrally located, its main attractions are located by the seashore, where many facilities have been built, such as multiple-activity sports courts, a bike lane, a band shell, the “Folias da Gabriela” circus, and Luís Eduardo Magalhães Conventions Center.

;Do Cristo (Christ’s Beach)As its very name indicates, there is a statue of the Redeeming Christ on that beach, a place which is greatly sought for tourist visitation. Its waters are recommended for some sports practices, such as kayak rides, jet-skiing, and hobby-cat sailing.

;Da Concha (Shell’s Beach)A small-sized beach, with a total extension of only 100 meters (328.08 feet). From there, tourists have a good of the Baía do Pontal (End’s Beach) and of the Avenida Beach (Beach of the Avenue). Located at the base of the Pernambuco Hill, it still has areas of native vegetation mixed with many coconut trees. Its waters are calm, proper for swimming.

;Do Sul (Southern Beach)Having as its main characteristic a thick field of coconut trees and traces of the native Atlantic Forest, this urban beach is one of the busies beaches in the town. Along its whole extension, tourists will find a great number of stalls, mostly of which are specialized in the typical dishes of the state of Bahia. In the water, the stretches of reefs and natural swimming pools with bottom of sand are greatly sought by divers and surfers.

;Dos Milionários (Millionaires’ Beach)Its name is a direct consequence to the fact that it was formerly the beach of choice of the rich cocoa “colonels” (local farm owners, caudillos). Today, it is the sought beach on the South coast, both by swimmers and by tourists, who find there a very long sand strip, bordered by a field of coconut trees. Its infrastructure includes a camping site, several standardized stalls, showers, and rest rooms.

;CururupeA rich beach in number of growths of mangroves, it also has rental huts and kayaks. It also has great historical importance, because it was the stage of a fierce battle, in 1559, which destroyed almost completely the village of the Brazilian Indians.

;Back DoorThe first beach of the Olivença district, the Back Door beach is characterized by its great waves. Because of that, the beach has become the beach of choice for the most important surfing championships held in the state of Bahia.

;BatubaIts landscape is a mix of vast fields of coconut trees and many reefs. It is a very busy beach, mostly gathering surfers, who do not waste any opportunity of enjoying its good waves. In the place there are several restaurants which specialize in seafood dishes, and the place also has a good camping site, with the whole necessary infrastructure.

;Cai N’água (Milagres) (Fall in the Water – Miracles Beach)With well equipped stalls, many places of clear still waters, the beach is perfect for the enjoyment of whole families. It is located within the area of the homonymous settlement, and in the place there are also countless summer vacation houses.

;CanabravaOne of the favorite beaches for vacationers, on the beach there are countless rental houses and cottages. Its landscape is a mix of coconut tree fields, reefs of corals, and large resorts.

;AcuípeThe beach has a very special landscape, in a mix of sandbank vegetation with a beautiful field of coconut trees. In Acuípe, tourists will find several hotels and lodges, which offer visitors an excellent infrastructure. The beach is good for walking, sea bathing, and reel fishing.

In Town

Museu Casa de Cultura Jorge Amado (Jorge Amado House of Culture Museum)The estate was bought by Colonel João Amado, the Jorge Amado's father, the most famous writer of the state of Bahia. There, he built the beautiful big house, with great lounges decorated in jacaranda wood and Carrara marble. Having had its construction started in the beginning of the decade of 1920, and having been inaugurated in 1926, the house was the residence of the famous writer, who spent part of his life there. The house has also been used as the headquarters of the Clube dos Bancários (Club of the Bank Employees), and of the Faculdade de Direito de Ilhéus (Ilhéus College of Law). Today, the place houses the Fundação Cultural de Ilhéus (Ilhéus Cultural Foundation), and the Casa de Jorge Amado (Jorge Amado’s House), a house of culture that pays homage to the writer and has as its main objective advancing the local culture.

Jorge Amado de Faria (August 10, 1912 – August 6, 2001) was a Brazilian writer of the Modernist school. He was the best-known of modern Brazilian writers, his work having been translated into some 30 languages and popularized in film, notably Dona Flor and her Two Husbands (Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos) in 1978. His work dealt largely with the poor urban black and mulatto communities of Bahia.

;São Jorge de Ilhéus Church (Saint George of Ilhéus Church)It is a construction that dates back to the end of the seventeenth century, according to the Instituto do Patrimônio Artístico e Cultural do Estado da Bahia – IPAC/BA (Institute of the Artistic and Cultural Patrimony of the State of Bahia). The church is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ilhéus.

;Sacred Art Museum It is located next to the São Jorge de Ilhéus Church. Its collection includes a secular statue of Saint George, sacred documents, valuable items and objects from the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, and a panel portraying the history of Ilhéus. The museum is supported by the Metropolitan Curia.

;Bar Vesúvio (Vesuvius Bar)The Bar Vesúvio (Vesuvius Bar) has been one of the most visited places in the town ever since its creation, in the end of the decade of 1920, when it was the place cocoa farmers used to go to, to meet their friend and to tell them their stories, and talk about their love conquests. Many are the visitors and tourists who drop by to know the place and to savor famous “Nacib’s kibbeh” – one of dishes most referred to in Jorge Amado’s novel Gabriela, Cravo e Canela (Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon), in which Mr. Nacib is the owner of the Vesuvius bar, the place where young Gabriela works.

;Ecoparque de Una (Una’s Ecopark)At 19 km (11.81 mi.) from the Una Biological Reservation, in a journey that passes by the beautiful beaches of the Southern coast of Ihéus, the Una Ecopark begins in the middle of a rubber plantation where visitors can see the manual extraction of the sap of the rubber tree. Trails in the park take visitors to a suspended footbridge, of some 20 meters (65.62 feet) of height, in the crown of the trees, with a privileged view of the Atlantic Forest. During the ride, often are tourists dazzled with the “visit” of the nice Golden Lion Tamarins. The final prize is a refreshing bath in the waters of the Maruim River. This ride requires its prior scheduling with the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis – IBAMA (Brazilian Institute of the Environment and the Renewable Natural Resources).

;Mata da Esperança Botanical Garden (Hope Woods Botanical Garden) With an immense variety of species of the Atlantic Forest, the Mata da Esperança Park – today the Botanical Garden – represents a place of resistance and preservation of the native fauna and flora of the area. Either form bicycle or on foot, visitors can cover its trails, having a unique possibility of enjoying the wonders kept there, such as the Golden-headed Lion Tamarin.

;Engenho da Esperança (Esperança Sugar Mill)Around the sixteenth century, in the area where today is the Botanical Garden there was the Engenho da Esperança (Esperança Sugar Mill). It is worth paying the place a visit to see its ruins and learn about the histories of the place’s past. The company of a guide to show the ways and guide the hikes is fundamental. In the town’s center, tourists may rent bicycles. With them, the whole ride, which lasts some three hours on foot, is reduced to only one hour.

;Centro de Recuperação do Bicho-Preguiça (Sloth Recovery Center)The center is located within the area of Atlantic Forest, in the Centro Educativo da Natureza (Educational Center of the Nature). That center, which serves to both recover and re-introduce species of sloth into its natural habitat, won the 1998 Prêmio Natureza (1998 Nature Prize). The animals of the Centro de Recuperação (Recovery Center) dazzle visitors because of how much they resemble plush animals, and for their friendliness in the contact with humans. During the rides, which last four hours on the average, it is possible to see other species of animals and plants, natural to the Atlantic Forest. To visit the Center, tourists have to schedule the visit in advance, calling the center at [phone]/3016/3013.

Transport

* Road: BR-101 connects it to Itabuna and beyond.
* Air: Ilhéus Jorge Amado Airport with daily flights of TAM, GOL and Webjet with destinations Belo Horizonte-Confins (CNF), Brasília (BSB), Porto Seguro (BPS), Rio de Janeiro-Galeão (GIG), Salvador (SSA), São Paulo-Guarulhos (GRU).
* Sea: Port of Ilhéus.

External links

* [http://www.ilheusvirtual.com.br/ Ilhéus Virtual] (in Portuguese)
* [http://www.brasilheus.com.br/ Brasilheus] (site in English and Portuguese)
* [http://www.brasildestinos.com.br/ilheus/ Brasil Destinos] (in Portuguese)