Paraty
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Image:City of Paraty, state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, church.jpg Image:Parati.jpg
Located on the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, Paraty (or Parati) is a preserved Portuguese colonial and Brazilian imperial (1822-1889) town. Because of the beauty of the town and of the magnificence of the coast and mountains in this region, Paraty is a popular tourist area.
Paraty has kept the charm of its past. Much of the architecture of the city has not changed for 250 years or more: stone-paved streets, a colonial fort, no cars in the historic district, baroque churches, colonial houses...refurbished in most cases, and many of them transformed into unique shops, bars and restaurants. There are many musical and cultural events, the most prominent of which is the International Literary Festival of Paraty. The town is also known for its local festivals on Catholic holy dates, such as the Feast of the Holy Spirt. Paraty is popular with visitors from São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, the rest of Brazil, and the world.
Paraty was founded formally as a town by Portuguese colonizers in 1667, in a region populated by the Guianazes indigenous people. After the discovery of the world's richest gold mines in 1696 in the mountains of Minas Gerais, Paraty became an export port for gold to Rio de Janeiro and from there on to Portugal. It was also a port for supplies, miners and African slaves to begin the trek by mule train over the mountains towards the gold mining areas. Thus, the city grew quickly and became rich. However, eventually a shorter road was built from Rio to Minas Gerais, the gold itself began to run out in the late 1700s, and Paraty declined. The city's economic activity revived as a port for a new boom, the coffee trade of the Paraiba River Valley in the early 1800s, until a railway along the valley created cheaper transport to the port of Rio. Since then, Paraty has been out of the mainstream, which is why it did not change for centuries, until a paved road was built from Rio to Santos, near São Paulo, in the 1970s. The city then began a new cycle of activity, which transformed a small almost abandoned town living on very limited economic activity, mainly fishing and agriculture (bananas, manioc, sugarcane) into what is now one of the "must see" touristic attractions in Brazil.
The natural site of Paraty is one of the most beautiful areas in the world. The town is located on the Bay of Angra dos Reis, which is dotted with tropical islands. Rising up some 1,000 meters behind the town are the tropical forests, mountains, and waterfalls of the Sea Range (Serra do Mar) in the Serra da Bocaina National Park.