The first permanent European settlement of Pernambuco
was at Olinda by Duarte Coelho Pereira, who had been
granted the Pernambuco Captaincy. He founded the City
of Olinda as the colonia Capital of Pernambuco Captaincy
in 1537. People says that Duarte Coelho Pereira, looking
at the wonderful sight from the top of the hills had said:
"Oh linda situação para uma Vila"
- (How a beautiful situation for a Village) what is known as
the origin of the name "Olinda".
Duarte Coelho dedicated himself to the agriculture,
or to the white gold, as the sugar cane was called at
that time. With his work he made his Captaincy the most prosperous of the Brazil in the XVI Century.
The Dutch occupied the region from 1630 to 1654,
and during the occupation a well-planned town was
built where present-day Recife is located. Pernambuco
was ably governed by the Dutch and prospered with the production of sugar in the plantations located in the rich
alluvial soil along the coast.

But the invaders burned down Olinda, althought
they had made a pacific and developed administration
centred in Recife.
Portuguese rule replaced that of the Dutch in Pernambuco
in 1654, and Olinda was recovered and once again
it was an important brazilian village, as a developed and
cultural center. In the early 18th century a bitter rivalry
developed between Olinda, the administrative capital of
the captaincy and residence of rich aristocratic plantation
owners, and Recife, inhabited by traders, ship chandlers and warehouse workers. Recife continued to prosper, however,
while Olinda declined, and in 1827 if was made the Capital for
the Province. In 1817 Pernambuco was the scene of
a local armed rebellion against Portuguese rule. Pernambuco remained for years a hotbed of republicanism and revolutionary agitation.
It was the site of unsuccessful insurrections against
Protuguese rule in 1821-1822, 1824, 1831 and 1848.

Pernambuco became a state of Brazilian Republic in 1891.

Olinda is considered as the birthplace of the brazilian
replubic and it was the focus of an important cultural
revival with the foundation of one of the two first
graduation courses of the country,
The Juridical Courses, founded at the same time in
São Paulo and Olinda in 1827.

Nowadays Olinda is noted for its 16th and 17th
century ornate churches and for the colonial buildings.
Also there is a colony os artists and there are several
places with typical objects and gifts. Also it is a right place
to find and taste different typical foods since there are
very good restaurants and typical fairs at the streets.

José Luis Marques Delgado

University Professor