Lagoa Santa is a Brazilian city in the state of Minas Gerais, located in the Metropolitan Area of Belo Horizonte. The city is at 800 meters of altitude, it has an area of 231,9km² and a population of 54.256 inhabitants (information taken from IBGE/2010). It is located 35 km away from Belo Horizonte, 776 km from Brasília, 553 km from Rio de Janeiro and 641 km from São Paulo. It is a limestone region situated in the Middle Basin of Rio das Velhas. The region is formed by Plateaus with scarce elevations, a tropical weather and average annual temperature of 22º.
History
The first occupation of the region happened around 12.000 years ago when the first known people of Lagoa Santa arrived. They were hunter-gatherers that lived in seasonal camps and used to feed themselves with fruits from the Cerrado region because it was easier to find those than to hunt. They devoloped the lithic and ceramical industries, and practiced the cave paintings.
The city was founded in 1733 by Felipe Rodrigues, a traveler that settled in the place. It was called Lagoa Grande and Lagoa das Congonhas do Sabarabuçu. Its actual name origin was because of the healing properties of the lake's water. It was the traveler Felipe Rodrigues that first felt the benefical property of these waters. When he washed the eczemas in his leg, he felt relieved of the pain and his wounds were healed
The news about the miraculous healing was fast spreaded through the region and the small village started receiving pilgrims searching for the cure of their illness. The perenniality of the lake is stated in the reports of the naturalist travelers, since the XVII century. Its depth isn't of more than three meters, since there is an aquifer 40 meters away from its bed that supports its survival. Its also largely composed of rain water. Its shape is triangular and, in the flood seasons, its spillway releases its waters in Rio das Velhas through Córrego do Bebedouro.
In 1749, after the visit of the italian Doctor Cialli, the Priest Frei Miranda, that was healed by the water of the lake here, asked the Miranda Bishop, D. Frei Manuel da Cruz, to build a chapel to praise Nossa Sra. Dos Remédios. In April 19, the permit was conceived and in the 20th the first Mass was celebrated. Afterwards, Frei Miranda, with his followers, asked Miranda Bishop again to build the definitive chapel in the name of N. Sra da Saúde.
In the following year, the Ombudsman of Sabará, Manuel Nunes Velho was called to the vilage to decide the streets' layout and the sites for bathing and the richest resident of the place, Colonel Faustino Pereira da Silva was designed to execute his decisions. In 1765, the present Church had only its presbytery, covered and poorly rigged.
In 1819, the first main church in the name of N. Sra. Da Saúde was built. In 1823, the parish of Lagoa Santa was created, it separated the parish of Sto. Antônio de Roças Grandes, and the chapels of Santa de Fidalgo and N. Sra. Da Conceição de Raposos were affiliates. The city still has its old traditions, just like the Padroeira N. Sra. da Saúde's party in August 15th, Nossa Sra. da Conceição in December 8th and the "Conga" parties of N. Sra. do Rosário in October. The city has two music bands, the oldest one is called Banda Santa Cecília, it was founded by Peter Lund. It also has many "Congado" and "Folia de Reis" celebration groups.
Peter Lund
Born in Copenhague, Peter Wilhelm Lund arrived in Brazil, for the first time, in 1825, searching for a fresh environment because of his weak health. In his first stay, that lasted until 1829, he dedicated himself being na naturalist in the surroundings of Rio de Janeiro, collecting different species of ants, clams and vultures.
After being in Europe for four years, showing to his folks the results of his research in the tropics, Lund returned to Brazil. Iin his second visit, tough, he didn't settle in the coast, but in the countryside of the State of Minas Gerais, in the region of Lagoa Santa. The geological, paleontological and archaeological richness fascinated him in a way that made him finally settle in the region, in which he would perish in 1880
Between 1835 and 1843, the danish naturalist and his assistant, Peter Andreas Brandt, visited more than eight hundred caves, and paleontological material was found in at least 70 of them. They also found human skeletal remains in six of them. Using these findings they identified more than a hundred genres and around a hundred and fifty animal species, consisted in 19 genres and 32 species that were already extinct.
However, among the many limpets, grottos and caves that they explored, none was as important as the den found in the base of the massif of Lagoa do Sumidouro. In most of the time, this cave was flooded, so, it was impossible to explore its interior in any way. Even so, during drought periods that happen in each 30 years, the groundwater level becomes so low that it's possible to enter in it. In 1842 and 1843, durint one of these periods of drought, Lund and Brandt dug the undergrounds of Gruta (grotto) do Sumidouro, which they already guessed that were ancient.
In them, Lund and Brandt found human bones of many individuals associated no extinct animal bones, believing the temporal antiquity of the american man. It was in this mix of extinct and alive species that the mysterious remains of the horse and the man were found, in the same state of decomposition, so that no doubt was left about the coexistance of these beings that had the same remainings buried together. Thus, more than three decades before the north american community even started to think about the existance of the american Ice Man, and more than half a century before the first evidences of the kind were generated, Peter Wilhelm Lund was already convinced that the first american people were so old that lived with the great extinct animals.
In 1938, the city of Lagoa Santa was created, separating itself from Santa Luzia. Lagoa Santa has a great archaeological and paleontological collection, discoveries that started by the naturalist and botanist Peter Wilhelm Lund, around 1835. Gruta da Lapinha, with its halls of mighty grace, and the lakes of the region are the main tourist sites of the city.
Being part of the Metropolitan Area of Belo Horizonte, with an area of 280 square kilometres, the city hosts the Aeroporto Internacional Tancredo Neves (an international airport), the Parque de Material Aeronáutico (a great base of the Air Force), and an ecological preservation area, Parque do Sumidouro, a way to soften the technological progress. Its economy is focused on the industry. It is the 2nd best State in harvesting pineapples. The city that became a great cultural and touristical exhibit, thanks to Gruta da Lapinha, is at 760 meters above the sea level and 38 km away from Belo Horizonte.