Read aloud by your device's voice. It sounds different on each device.
1669
Europeans first settled here by building a small fort in 1669
Europeans first settled the Port of Manaus by building a small fort in 1669. A Christian mission and small village called Villa de Barra grew up around the fort. In 1850 the town was renamed Manaos after a local Indian river tribe.
Rubber
The rubber boom gave the city electricity and an opera house
The natural rubber industry brought an economic boom to the Amazon region that lasted from the late 19th century to about 1920. Manaus was one of the first cities in Brazil to have electricity. The port's commerce began with the need to ship rubber products downriver.
The quay
A Polish engineer added a customs house, a stone quay and floating wharves
The Polish engineer Bronisław Rymkiewicz and his company began to improve port facilities in 1892. They added a customs house, a stone quay, storage and floating wharves. Many of the buildings were ordered from Europe.
1903
The governor inaugurated the port in June 1903
Governor Silvério José Néri enforced processing of rubber in Amazonas, rather than shipping the raw rubber downstream to Pará. In June 1903 he inaugurated the Port of Manaus, operated by the Manaus Harbour limited company.
The decline
When the rubber market collapsed in the 1920s, the port declined
When the rubber market collapsed in the 1920s, the Port of Manaus declined and did not recover until 1967, when it was made a duty-free zone. The city has been called Manaus from 1939.
Day 1, evening
It comes after Adolpho Lisboa Market.
More stories from this trip idea
The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Port of Manaus, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.