Buzios - The History of Rio's St Tropez

The name Búzios is derived from Portuguesewhole plantation on fire. The owner named Honold
and refers to a shell fish that was common in thegave up and never replanted.
area.In the 1950´s Honolds inheritors started to plot
When the French invaded Rio de Janeiro in 1555 theythe land and the modern Búzios started to
created good relationships with the indians, on thetake shape. The land was sold to people from Rio
Búzios peninsula it was the tribethat built vacation homes. A real road was built
Tupinambás. The French built bases withconnecting the small village to Cabo Frio. The era of
ports. It was for exporting the then valuable braziltourism had started., during this time the village slowly
wood that these ports were used, pirates andgot modernized.
smugglers of other nationalities were also active inIn 1964 a stressed out Brigitte Bardot arrived in Rio
this trade. Only in 1615 the Portuguese definitelyde Janeiro. Hundreds of fans met her and the media
managed to conquer the French, exports stoppedcoverage was massive. Her boyfriend was living in
and the activities in the region was limited to fishingBrazil and had arranged for her to stay in a friends
and agriculture.house in Búzios, she loved it so much that
Whaling became important during the 18th century,she prolonged her stay. The little village got famous
they were killed and butchered in the region.in an instant. Images of the mega movie star walking
It´s at this time that todays villagethe streets were spread around the world and
Armação dos Búzios came to be,it´s popularity grew. The village back then was
it started as a community for whalers and theirvery simple with around 500 inhabitants, a number
families. Praia dos Ossos (Bone Beach) got the namethat today has grown to over 30.000. There is a
during this time since this is were the whalesstatue of Brigitte Bardot as well as references to her
carcasses were deposited. The whaling abruptlyon almost every corner.
ended with the arrival of super efficient NorthIn the late 1970´s you has something called
American whale boats, within years there werethe Argentinian invasion. The bad economy in
hardly any of the big mammals left. in 1768 it wasArgentina made lots of Argentinians invest in Brazil.
over.Búzios was one of the places they
Búzios was also used a stop for ships duringconcentrated and subsequently still today many
the lucrative slave trade. The slave trade had beenpousadas and businesses are run and owned by
going on for centuries when Brazil as the last state inpeople from Brazil´s big neighbour in the South.
the world officially made slavery illegal. It was veryThe town was frequented by rich people and
common that runaway slaves joined together insubsequently it developed in an exclusive manner. In
communities known as quilombos, on of those was in1995 Búzios was separated from the
Praia Rasa. After being freed they settledmunicipality of Cabo Frio and the town got even
permanently in the area.stream lined towards tourism. After that moment a
The fishing really kicked off in the beginning of thenew "boom" happened and lots of condominiums and
20th century, it was dried salted fish for the marketshouses were built. Exclusive restaurants and swanky
in Rio that was in demand. Large banana plantationspousadas were inaugurated. Rua das Pedras today is
started to produce for worldwide export. Thelined by boutiques and cafeterias. You also have a
banana era ended abruptly when a vengefulactive nightlife with some good nightclubs and bars.
American foreman had cut ofa leg of a local dog thatSome people call it the St Tropez of Brazil.
had bitten him, the locals responded with setting the