Além Paraíba
Encyclopedia
Além Paraíba is a city in the southeastern Zona da Mata
Zona da Mata (Minas Gerais)
Zona da Mata is a mesoregion of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, situated in the southeastern part of the state, along the border of the states of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo...
region of Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. The name indicates its position on the far bank (from Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
) of the Rio Paraíba do Sul
Paraíba do Sul
thumbThe Paraíba do Sul , or simply termed Paraíba, is a river in the south-east of Brazil. It flows 1,137 kilometres west to northeast from its farthest source at the source of the river Paraitinga to the sea near Campos...
. It was known as São José d'Além Parahyba until 1923.
Railways
Além Paraíba was at the junction of the Estrada de Ferro Central do BrasilEstrada de Ferro Central do Brasil
The Estrada de Ferro Central do Brasil was one of the principal railways of Brazil, uniting the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais.-Origins:...
(1871) and the Estrada de Ferro Leopoldina (1873). The grand but somewhat ruinous main station (Porto Novo) now houses a small railway museum dedicated to the EF Leopoldina.
The Empreza Ferro Carril Além Parahyba followed in 1895 with a 4 km mule railway to Saúde which ran along the main streets and was electrified in 1925 but closed following a fatal accident in 1939. The tracks are still in existence.
Districts
The city comprises the following districts:- Banqueta
- Bela Vista
- Boiadeiro
- Esplanada
- Goiabal
- Granja
- Ilha Gama Cerqueira
- Ilha do Lazareto
- Ilha Recreio
- Jaqueira
- Jardim Paraíso
- Morro dos Cabritos
- Morro da Conceição
- Morro do Cipó
- Parada Breves
- Porto Novo
- Porto Velho
- Praça da Bandeira
- Santa Marta
- Santa Rita
- Santa Rosa
- São Geraldo
- São José
- São Sebastião
- Sítio Branco
- Terra do Santo
- Terreirão
- Timbira
- Vila Caxias
- Vila Laroca