Paraíba bridge
Iron truss.
Roberto Silvério Neto — Public domain · Junius — Public domain · Roberto Silvério Neto — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Marcio Sette — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Marcio Sette — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Marcio Sette — CC BY-SA 3.0 · CharlesBernardo — CC BY-SA 4.0
Paraíba do Sul is a town of about 44,000 people on the river of the same name in central Rio de Janeiro state, some 138 kilometres from Rio and 77 kilometres from Petrópolis by road, and counted as the pioneer town of the Serra Fluminense. It was born in 1681 at a calm reach of the river found by Garcia Rodrigues Paes, son of the explorer Fernão Dias, who was seeking a route linking the gem mines his father had found with the port of Rio de Janeiro; it became a stop on the «New Road» to Minas. Its sights include the Jardim Velho square with imperial palms planted in 1868 and an old bandstand, the Paraíba bridge built by the Baron of Mauá and opened on 13 December 1857 on five pillars over the river rocks with an iron truss, and the Pedra de Monte Cristo rock, wrapped in local legends.
Iron truss.
Imperial palms.
And its legends.
Paraíba do Sul, central Rio de Janeiro state
The Baron of Mauá; it opened in 1857.