Andrelândia is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Minas Gerais that is located in the Mesoregion of South and Southwest of Minas and hosts the Microregion of Andrelândia. It is 300 km away from the state capital, Belo Horizonte and occupies an area of approximately 1 005 km<sup>2</sup>. In 2014 its population was estimated at 12 507 inhabitants, being the 296th most populous municipality in the state of Minas Gerais and the second of its microregion.
It was founded on July 20, 1868, under the name Vila Bela do Turvo and consisted of five districts: Turvo, Arantes, Bom Jardim, Madre de Deus do Rio Grande and San Vicente Ferrer. Over the years the districts turned into cities, leaving only Andrelândia only the municipal seat. Throughout its history, the municipality had several denominations but has had its current name since state law 1160, of September 19, 1930.
The city has a great tradition in tourism and many of its old houses are considered historical municipal patrimonies. Other highlights are the religious festivals, such as the Feast of Saint Sebastian, the Feast of Kings, the Holy Week, the Feast of San Benedict, Corpus Christi and the feast of the patron saint, Our Lady of Porto, in August.
The city is known for being the hometown of the internationally known professor, historian, and academic José Murilo de Carvalho.
Etymology
It was renamed Vila Bela do Turvo, its first name, when it was elevated to the category of village by provincial law No. 1191 of July 27, 1864. It was elevated to the status of city, with the name Turvo, on July 20, 1868. Two years later, by provincial law No. 1644 of September 13, the municipality of Turvo was renamed Porto do Turvo. By state law No. 2 of September 14, 1891, the municipality of Porto do Turvo was renamed again as Turvo. By state law No. 556 of August 30, 1911, the then district of Nossa Senhora da Piedade do Rio Grande (belonging to Andrelândia) was renamed Arantes.
History
Colonization and Development
thumb|Visconde de Arantes Square in 1927|leftThe beginning of the colonization of European origin in the region of the current city of Andrelândia was a consequence of the gold exploitation in the south of the state of Minas Gerais. In the mid-eighteenth century, the region where the city is today was already fully populated by explorers who came to the region in search of fortune.
Around 1740, the population flow in the region increased considerably. Many people demarcated an extension of wasteland, settled there and later took care of the legalization of possession through the granting of a letter of sesmaria, which was given by the governor of the Captaincy of Minas Gerais. The "Congonhal" region, which extends over a large area of fertile land on the right bank of the Turvo Grande River and received this name due to the abundance of trees, was one of the most populated areas.
In 1749, the farmer André da Silveira, feeling the need for religious assistance, asked the Bishop of Mariana for permission to build a church dedicated to Our Lady of Porto in the place called Turvo Pequeno. Heeded by the ecclesiastical authority, the chapel was built, receiving the Catholic blessing in 1755. Around the small temple, many houses were built, and soon the Arraial do Turvo, primitive name of the settlement, was formed. After the construction of the chapel, in 1827, the Arraial do Turvo was already in conditions to be elevated to parish, which in fact occurred, having, from then on, a progressive growth, until it was transformed into a village in 1864, by law nº 1.191 of July 27 of this year. However, it was only between the 19th and 20th centuries that the first foreigners began to arrive in Andrelândia, mostly Lebanese who came to Brazil in search of wealth. Besides the foreigners who arrived and integrated the population of Andrelândia, many other families, from other cities and regions of Brazil, were also attracted by the riches of the place. From Italy came the D'Alessandro and Rivelli families; from Spain, Laredo, Casas Martins, and Garrido, and from Portugal, Gaspar and Pereira. Almost all of them were motivated by the construction of the West of Minas Railroad, inaugurated on June 14, 1914, or were tempted to progress with the benefits resulting from its operation.
There was a small group of people in the city, mainly of European origin, who frequented the market of Andrelândia in the early twentieth century and who, as attested by the elders, were the first street sellers of the current city. These people lived in a region not far from the town, called Congonhal, near the Bandeira Mountain, and for this reason they were called Congonheiras. They traveled around the city selling the harvest of their small crops and were known for not accepting the jobs that were offered to them.
Another event that marked and still reflects the history of the municipal economy is the fact that many industries installed at the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century disappeared, without any plausible explanation. However, the commercial movement in Andrelândia has developed considerably, especially since the early 1990s, which was a visible sign of the city's economic growth and modernization.
Currently, the town has been standing out in its tourism, with many of its old houses built in the 17th and 18th centuries becoming part of the town's historical heritage. Many of its squares and churches also preserve the baroque style from the time of the clearing of the region. Besides this, Andrelândia has also been developing its rural tourism, where the main attractions are the old farms, many from the 18th century. The relief of Andrelândia is very rugged, corresponding geomorphologically to the Desiccated Plateau of the Upper Rio Grande, the Compartment of the Mantiqueira Mountains and the Aiuruoca River Depression, in the so-called Southern Minas Plateau. The confluence of its waters to the Rio Grande is defined between the north-left slope of the Mantiqueira Mountains range and the south of the municipality. The maximum altitude is 1 535 m. at Natureza Mountains and the minimum altitude is 934 m at Aiuruoca River; the headquarters is at an altitude of 1 000 m. In the municipality, the relief varies between hilly and undulating, where about 20% of the territory is flat, 20% of the land is hilly, and the remaining 60% is a sea of hills and mountains.
Hydrography
Its waters all flow northward, towards the Rio Grande Valley, forming the headwaters of the Platine Basin, through the following courses, which are the main ones: the Rio Grande, which northizes the municipality, coming from Bom Jardim de Minas towards Lima Duarte, Santana do Garambéu, Piedade do Rio Grande and Madre de Deus de Minas and receives directly, as tributaries, a multitude of streams, and the Capivari River that is born in Andrelândia and flows into the border of Santana do Garambéu with Piedade do Rio Grande.
On the other side of the municipality is the Aiuruoca River, calmer and with muddy waters, coming from Serranos, through a little uneven region, which has as its most voluminous affluent, by the right margin, the Turvo Grande River, after receiving the waters of the Turvo Pequeno River, also the Barra, Sardinha and Vacas creeks, besides many streams. The Aiuruoca River flows into the Rio Grande, outside the lands of Andrelândia, into the large artificial lake of the Camargos Hydroelectric Power Plant. with reduced rainfall in the winter and an average annual temperature around 19 °C, with dry and cold winters, often with frost in some areas, and humid summers with higher temperatures. January and February are the warmest months of the year, and June and July the coldest. Fall and spring are transition seasons. The annual rainfall is more than 1,500 millimeters (mm), with December being the month with the highest precipitation, which can occur in the form of rain and, on some occasions, hail.
The highest precipitation accumulation in less than 24 hours recorded in Andrelândia was 183 mm recorded on January 14, 2011. Other large accumulations were 154 mm on January 24, 1992; 146 mm on December 9, 1999; 144 mm on January 17, 1985; 143 mm on October 31, 1973; 138 mm on January 23, 1992; 126 mm on January 25, 1985; 122 mm on December 4, 1968; 115 mm on January 23, 1985 113 mm on December 8, 1981; 112 mm on March 23, 1999, and 111 mm on January 20, 1967.