Caxias do Sul is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Located in the northeast of the state at an elevation of 817 meters, it is the largest city in the Serra Gaúcha region, the second most populous city in Rio Grande do Sul, surpassed only by the state capital Porto Alegre, and the 47th largest city in Brazil.
Throughout its history, Caxias do Sul has been known as Campo dos Bugres (until 1877), Colônia de Caxias (1877–1884), and Santa Teresa de Caxias (1884–1890). The city was established where the Vacaria Plateau begins to break into numerous valleys, intersected by small waterways, resulting in a rugged topography in its southern part. The area was inhabited by indigenous Kaingang people since time immemorial, but they were forcibly displaced by so-called "bugreiros" to make way, in the late 19th century, for the Empire of Brazil's decision to colonize the region with a European population. Consequently, thousands of immigrants, primarily Italians from the Veneto region, but also including some Germans, French, Spaniards, and Poles, crossed the sea and ascended the Serra Gaúcha, exploring an area that was still almost entirely uncharted.
After an initial period filled with hardships and deprivation, the immigrants succeeded in establishing a prosperous city, with an economy initially based on the exploitation of agricultural products, particularly grapes and wine, whose success is reflected in the rapid expansion of commerce and industry in the first half of the 20th century. Concurrently, the rural and ethnic roots of the community began to lose relative importance in the economic and cultural landscape as urbanization progressed, an educated urban elite emerged, and the city became more integrated with the rest of Brazil. During the first government of Getúlio Vargas, a significant crisis arose between the immigrants and their early descendants and the Brazilian milieu, as nationalism was emphasized, and cultural and political expressions of foreign ethnic origin were severely repressed. After World War II, the situation was pacified, and Brazilians and foreigners began to work together for the common good.
Since then, the city has grown rapidly, multiplying its population, achieving high levels of economic and human development, and developing one of the most dynamic economies in Brazil, with a presence in numerous international markets. Its culture has also internationalized, with several higher education institutions and a significant artistic and cultural life in various forms, while simultaneously facing challenges typical of rapidly growing cities, such as pollution, the emergence of slums, and rising crime.
History
Origins and colonization
Before the arrival of Italian immigrants in the 19th century, the region was inhabited by indigenous Kaingang people, hence its former name: Campo dos Bugres. Tropeiros also passed through the area on their journeys between the south of the state and the central region of the country. The Jesuits attempted to establish some reductions, though without success.
In the second half of the 19th century, due to the war of Italian unification, Italy faced severe social and economic crises, and impoverished farmers could no longer sustain themselves. During this period, the Brazilian imperial government decided to colonize uninhabited areas in the south of the country, encouraging immigration from Italy, following the success of a similar initiative with German settlers. The chosen area, then known as Fundos de Nova Palmira, consisted of unclaimed lands bordered by the Campos de Cima da Serra to the north and the German-colonized valley region to the south.
In 1875, the first settlers, mostly from the Veneto region, arrived after enduring a grueling month-long crossing of the Atlantic Ocean on overcrowded ships, where deaths from disease and poor conditions were common. Initially, immigrants disembarked in Rio de Janeiro, where they remained in quarantine at the Immigrants' House. They then traveled by steamship to the South, arriving in Porto Alegre, where they were directed to the former Porto Guimarães, now the municipality of São Sebastião do Caí. From there, they ascended the serra, traversing a largely wild region, until reaching their destination: the area now known as Nova Milano. From 1876, they moved to the so-called Sede Dante, the future site of Caxias do Sul, the administrative center of the colony, the first to be demarcated in the region. They were received in a wooden shed, hence the nickname "Barracão" also given to the small colonial seat. Subsequently, they were distributed to the rural plots assigned to them by the government. A year later, approximately 2,000 settlers were already in the area. On April 11, 1877, the official name of the place became Colônia Caxias, in honor of the Duke of Caxias.
Development
Despite some official assistance, initial conditions were extremely challenging. Families were largely isolated from one another due to the absence or poor state of roads. In addition to being unfamiliar with the still-wild environment, the settlers had primitive and scarce tools, and the agricultural techniques brought from Italy were not well-suited to the local climate and soil. Until houses were built and agriculture yielded results, sustenance came from gathering, hunting, and selling felled timber. Only the efforts of each family unit ensured their survival in the early days, and as survival depended on the number of workers, families tended to be large. As a result, Colônia Caxias grew rapidly, also due to the continuous influx of new immigrants, and soon established an economy based on subsistence. The main crops were wheat, beans, and maize, followed by potatoes, barley, and rye. Fruit trees such as chestnut, quince, apple, pear, orange, and cherry trees were introduced, and chickens, cows, goats, pigs, sheep, and rabbits were raised. Additionally, there was some production of honey and silk.
Nevertheless, commercial and industrial development soon emerged in the urban center, primarily focused on processing and distributing surplus agricultural products. General stores and small factories, such as those specializing in tinwork, carpentry, joinery, brickmaking, goldsmithing, blacksmithing, milling, saddlery, shoemaking, and tailoring, appeared. These businesses provided the emerging colony with self-sufficiency. The result of this activity was evident in 1881 at the first Agroindustrial Fair, the origin of the modern Festa da Uva, which centralized the small rural fairs and festivals. By 1883, the colony had 93 commercial establishments for a population of 7,359 inhabitants.
On April 12, 1884, the colony lost its status as an Imperial Crown Colony and was annexed to the municipality of São Sebastião do Caí as its 5th District, by which time it had a population of 10,500. Its name changed to Freguesia de Santa Tereza de Caxias, defining it as an administrative unit with its own parish. On October 30, 1886, the Municipal Chamber of São Sebastião do Caí established a municipal code for the freguesia of Caxias and appointed João Muratore as its first district administrator, though de facto administration remained in the hands of imperial officials, who viewed Italians with suspicion as administrators. It was not until June 28, 1890, that Italians gained leadership positions, starting a tradition that would take time to consolidate. On that date, the State President, having emancipated the district on June 20, elevating it to an autonomous municipality, appointed the first Governing Board of Caxias, composed of Italians Angelo Chitolina, Ernesto Marsiaj, and Salvador Sartori. By 1895, telegraph lines crossed the village, and in 1906, the first telephone network was inaugurated.
On June 1, 1910, Caxias was granted city status, and on the same day, the first train arrived, connecting the region to the state capital. In 1913, electric lighting was installed. Several economic cycles marked the municipality's evolution throughout the century. In its early decades, the initial subsistence-based economic model predominated. Commerce was boosted by the railway and the network of trading posts established by Germans, but Italians soon created their own channels for product distribution, generating significant capital that enabled larger-scale industrialization. Caxias do Sul became a major commercial and later industrial hub due to the production of wine, lard, and flour, with Porto Alegre as the main distribution point. Antônio Pierucinni and Abramo Eberle, wine and metallurgical product traders, were pioneers in opening markets in São Paulo. The Merchants' Association, founded in 1901, played a crucial role in the region and emerged as the most significant social force after the Intendancy and the Municipal Council. It maintained strict and efficient control over commerce, wielded significant influence with the authorities, intervened beneficially in economic crises and local infrastructure issues, and acted in the area of social assistance. Despite some internal crises and disputes with authorities, the Association led all matters related to the interests of the producing classes, even when they were purely agricultural, as all productive activities in this phase converged in commerce.
Meanwhile, the local culture, while still rooted in the traditional family organization and its rural ties and close connection to the Catholic Church, began a process of refinement and secularization. With the end of the immigrant settlement phase, an urban elite emerged that was more informed, educated, and able to dedicate itself to leisure and culture in less folkloric and more cosmopolitan patterns, benefiting the general population as well. Social-recreational clubs offering cultural programs emerged, such as the Clube Juvenil and Recreio da Juventude, as well as amateur sports clubs such as Esporte Clube Juventude and Grêmio Esportivo Flamengo (now SER Caxias). Public education began to be structured, and in 1917, the first municipal library was created. The first theaters and cinema halls, such as Cinema Juvenil, Cine Theatro Apollo, and Cinema Central, brought the most up-to-date film productions of the time, provided space for traveling theater companies and local amateurs, and even hosted operatic groups. Also noteworthy is the creation in 1937 of the Tobias Barreto de Menezes Cultural Center, founded by Percy Vargas de Abreu e Lima, a prominent intellectual figure in the city, offering free evening courses in Humanities and Sciences open to the entire population, developing a range of other cultural activities, and serving as a hub for political discussion due to the socialist ideas of its founder. The city's current House of Culture bears his name.
Identity construction and social crisis
In 1925, the 50th anniversary of Italian immigration to Rio Grande do Sul was celebrated, a period highly conducive to initiating public recognition of the successes already achieved and consolidated, primarily aiming to integrate the colonial elites into the state's historical panorama, until then dominated by the pastoral-latifundist representations of Portuguese descendants. In this context, the Festa da Uva became the city's most significant secular event, linking the glorification of Italian labor with the festival's potential as an important economic forum. As Cleodes Ribeiro stated,
At the same time, in Fascist Italy, there was growing interest in reconstructing the history of emigrants, interpreting it as a powerful civilizing contribution of the Latin race to the New World, urging Italians to defend and take pride in their ethnic origins. Benito Mussolini, in the prologue to the commemorative album Cinquantenario della Colonizzazione Italiana nello Stato del Rio Grande del Sud, declared: "In the noble pride that elevates your souls as you pause to contemplate the result of long and tenacious labor, I glimpse the sign of the noblest lineage that left an indelible mark on the history of Peoples."
This chauvinistic and racist stance, not free from foreign manipulation, was suppressed by the government of Getúlio Vargas, which adopted a nationalist development line, minimizing state autonomy and regional singularities that had formed in various regions of Brazil, including the south. At this point, the overly optimistic and confident self-image constructed by the Italians began to be dismantled, and instead of collaborators in Brazil's growth and settlement, immigrants came to be seen as potential enemies of the homeland. This process culminated with Brazil's entry into World War II alongside the Allies against the Axis powers, causing a profound rupture in ties between Italy and Brazil, with significant consequences for the immigration region. Between 1941 and 1944, anti-Italian demonstrations organized by the National Defense League sought to suppress the identifying symbols of the foreign ethnicity, creating an atmosphere of terror through various public acts of aggression. At the same time, Italians and their descendants were prohibited from speaking their dialect, forming a wall of silence around them, as many still struggled to express themselves in Portuguese. Their movement required safe-conduct passes, severely hindering their interaction with Brazilians at all levels. Such repression led to self-censorship efforts by Italians and their descendants, discouraging the cultivation of memory even in the privacy of the home and halting the celebration of the Festa da Uva from 1938. Those of other foreign ethnic origins, though fewer in number, faced similar treatment.
Reconciliation and resumed growth
Upon the resumption of the Festa da Uva in 1950, coinciding with the 75th anniversary of immigration, in a spirit of reconciliation, immigrants began to be called pioneers, indicating a reorientation in the identity to be constructed, with progressive implications that opened up to non-Italians, now considered partners in the entire civilizing process. Another event of great symbolic significance was the construction of the Monument to the Immigrant, inaugurated in 1954 and later designated a national monument.