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Olinda

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Historic Centre of the Town of Olinda**¹
**UNESCO World Heritage Site**

State Party	Brazil
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iv
Identification	#189
Region²	Latin America and the Caribbean
Inscription History
Formal Inscription:	1982 6th WH Committee Session
WH link:	http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/189
1 Name as officially inscribed on the WH List 2 As classified officially by UNESCO

Olinda is a historic city in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, located on the country's northeastern Atlantic Ocean coast, just north of Recife and south of Paulista. It has a population of 376,800 people (2005) and is one of the best-preserved colonial cities in Brazil. The city's name can be interpreted as an exclamation regarding the beauty of its setting ("Ó, linda!" is Portuguese for "Oh, beautiful!"), but a much more likely source is a literary character in the chivalry romance Amadis de Gaula.

Olinda features a number of major tourist attractions, such as a historic downtown area (World Heritage Site), churches, and the Carnival of Olinda, a popular street party, very similar to traditional Portuguese carnivals, with the addition of African influenced dances. Unlike Rio de Janeiro and Salvador, in Olinda admission to carnival is free. All the festivities are celebrated on the streets, and there are no bleachers or roping. There are hundreds of small musical groups (sometimes featuring a single performer) in many genres.

The settlement of Olinda was founded in 1535 by Duarte Coelho Pereira; it was elevated to a town in March 12, 1537. Olinda was the capital of the hereditary captaincy of Pernambuco, but was burned by Dutch invaders, who founded a new settlement, Recife, seven kilometres to the south.

Besides its natural beauty, Olinda is also one of the most important of Brazil's cultural centers. Declared in 1982 a Historical and Cultural Patrimony of Humanity by the UNESCO, Olinda relives the magnificence of the past every year during the Carnival, in the rhythm of frevo, maracatu and others rhythms.