Manaus Memories
One of the things I always find fascinating about Manaus is its history. From a little village on the edge of the jungle, it became a famous port of call for ocean voyagers, two thousand miles up a river, all because for a brief time it was the rubber capital of the world.
When you look at the structures built during this time, the Opera House, the Customs House, the Central Market, the cathedral, as well as the mansions and places of business, you see a European influence, as opposed to the architecture of any individual country.
The rubber barons of Amazonas wanted to show that they were the equals, if not the betters, of the Europeans from whom they descended.
The Opera House is a must see when you go to Manaus. They have tours in English, Portuguese, Spanish and German, and probably some other languages. When you look at the construction, at the woods, marbles and stones used to create this beauty in the jungle, you have to wonder at the skill of the craftsmen who constructed this wonder in the middle of a jungle surrounded by disease and hostile Indians. The cost involved, especially in today's dollars, is astronomical. Yet, the barons wanted to show they could have an opera house equal to any in Europe and they copied the opera house of Milan.
For their market they used the Central Market of Paris as an inspiration and expanded on the idea, using imported steel from France to give the French feeling to the structure.
The Customs House (Alfangada in Portuguese) is a squat stone building that looks like something that would be comfortable on a London waterfront.
What I find amazing is not only that these building have survived over a hundred years in a tropical climate and during reverses in the economic status of Manaus, but that the people take such pride in them that all have been repeatedly renovated to maintain their Old World appeal in a New World jungle.
More in the next edition.
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