Last modified: 2020-07-25 by ian macdonald
Keywords: rio grande do sul | iraí |
Links: FOTW homepage |
search |
disclaimer and copyright |
write us |
mirrors
image located by Ivan Sache, 19 July 2020
The municipality of Iraí (7,969 inhabitants in 2016; 18,219 ha) is located 450
km of Porto Alegre, on the border with Santa Catarina state, here river Uruguai.
Iraí was settled in 1893 by a dozen of supporters of the Federalist
Revolution who had fled Cruz Alta. After a 120 km voyage, they eventually
settled near Honey River (named for the bees thriving nearby) and profuse
sources of freshwater they called Águas do Mel (Honey Waters).
Colônia
Guarita was officially established in 1908, although the place remained known as
Águas do Mel. The place was settled in 1911 by colonists from Caias do Sul and
Guaporé; in 1914, the bathing area was incorporated to the 8th district of
Palmeira das Missões. The fame of the miraculous water, however, spread all over
Rio Grande do Sul and the town of Águas do Mel was officially established on 8
March 1916. The next year, an expedition sent by the state identified five
sulphur-bearing sources in the region; Antônio Villanova was appointed the first
administrator of the Commission of Management of the Irahy Mineral Waters.
Nestor Westphalen inaugurated the first hotel in 1919; the same year, Dr.
Hildebrando Westphalen, who had studied the healing properties of the water,
opened a first official medical post.
A town soon developed, named Cruzeiro
do Sul. Aware that an other Crueziero do Sul existed in Santa Catarina, the
government of Rio Grande do Sul changed the name of the town to Irahy, in
Tupi-Guarany, Honey Waters. The municipality of Irahy was established by State
Decree No. 5,368 issued on 1 July 1933, and inaugurated on 13 August 1933. Iraí
was substituted to Irahy in 1937 as the municipality's name. The engineers
Torres Gonçalces abd Saturino de Britovwere were commissioned by the government
to lead the new town's urban planning.
The Osvaldo Cruz spa is built around a
rocky source that gushes forth mineral after (4L/s; 36.5C). The Iraí water was
proclaimed Brazil and South America's best and world's second mineral healing
water
https://irai.rs.leg.br/
Municipal Chamber website
Ivan Sache, March 2012
The flag of Iraí is vertically divided into three stripes, the
outer green, the central yellow with a blue wavy base and a honeycomb emblem in
the center surmounting the black writing "IRAÍ - RS".
Photos
https://irai.rs.leg.br/noticias/139/comemoracoes-da-semana-da-patria-iniciaram-hoje-em-irai
https://www.facebook.com/prefeiturairai/
https://www.facebook.com/prefeiturairai/
https://www.facebook.com/prefeiturairai/
https://www.facebook.com/prefeiturairai/
https://www.facebook.com/prefeiturairai/
https://www.facebook.com/prefeiturairai/
Ivan Sache, 19 July 2020