BEBERIBE and its History

S04º10’47’’   W38º07’50’’

The formation of Beberibe is led back on the Portuguese Colonization under Pero Coelho.
The city lies on the land which has been handed over by captain Domingos Ferreira Chaves to Manuel Nogueira, Sebastião and João Carvalho Nóbrega on the 16.Aug. 1691. In the beginning of the 19.Century Baltazar Ferreira do Vale and Pedro de Queiroz Lima decided to move away from the city of Cascavel. Baltazar bought the property LUCAS and Pedro the property BOM JARDIM. Children from these two families had married among each other and a real Patriarch established.

The property LUCAS had offered the better condition for a colonization. The families Queiroz, Ferreira and Facó mixed up with the families of Bessa, Peroba and Martin Dourado. The family Colaço joined later and developed into a family with the biggest ramification. According an old legend, a ship accident occurred at the beginning of the last century at the Atlantic coast. A very devout woman on board of the ship swore, if she should be saved to build a church in honor of Jesus, Maria and Josef at that place. She acquired country alluvial at the beach  of Morro Branco and made her promise true and built a chapel. The legend  tells that, if somebody had sickened, found cure in this chapel.

Sometime later, a young man of the property LUCAS had constructed another chapel infront of his house in Beberibe. Some years later, Colonel Raimundo José Pereira Leite, a rich man from Cascavel, renovated the chapel and dedicated it to a Catholic headquarters for beliefers. The foundation of the district BEBERIBE was done on the 5. July 1892. It became effective and official on the 25. March 1955.

Beberibe in the native language means “place where the sugarcane grows " which clearly expresses the fertile ground of the district here.

The development of the city

As far as to the middle of the 19th century, Beberibe had absolutely rural character. Few people lived around the property LUCAS and the houses were built out of clay. In the cycle of the cow and salted dry meat, the population only grew very weakly. Only at beginning of the 20th century, changes became noticeable in the population's life. The chapel marks the beginning of an urban development, which give a new expression of life. The church place becomes a center for the daily social contact. Some commercial businesses are built and are given a new expression to the city.

With the national tourism, starting in the 70s, when the national highway Ce-040 was constructed, land along the east coast and Beberibe had been parceled and the central coast sections of the fishers, like Morro Branco and Praia das Fontes became centers for vacation houses and second residences for the inhabitants from Fortaleza.
 

With the creation of more different accesses to the coast. the central coast sections shows, earlier occupied only from fishers, today different developments, like Morro Branco, Praia das Fontes, Diogo, Uruaú, Prainha do Canto Verde, Paripueira and Parajuru. Morro Branco shows the biggest expansion of the district. A place for vacation houses - Apartements, like the installation" Marina" with changing population numbers. Morro Branco earlier a small fisher village with meager structure shows today a clear village character that extends in direction Beberibe on and on.

Current situation

Beberibe is located in a protected zone regarding the attainability of other parts of the district. It has only 3 streetaccess, one to Morro Branco, one to Praia das Fontes and the connection to the national highway.
The city is 81km away from of the the capital Fortaleza, beside the national highway CE-040.  
The street scene has a quadratic scheme and the streets are very poor paved.
Beberibe is in the own federal state Ceará as well as all over Brazil known for its heavenly coast, sceneries for many films and soap series.
The city of Beberibe has 3824 inhabitants and the district has a coast length of 50km, 17km with  its sandstone rocks. Not to forget, the 12 differently colored sand, with which native artists draw beautiful motives in glasses.

The only days, the fishermen are sailing on the sea for fun, are their regattas in the month of November, December and February, organized from the fisher - union, as a symbol of the courage and the survival.
The carnival of Beberibe is regarded as one of the best and surest in Ceará
Profoundly religiously, they celebrate of course also their protection sanctify. The biggest parties are the party "Jesus, Maria and Josef" in December and the party of the" sacred mother" in July.

In the whole district, the protection sanctify of the individual villages, with sacred fairs, are celebrated, where the whole population takes part, and continues with a big party participated by all..
In the Easter week, the ailments and dying of Jesus Christ are demonstated in some regions.
In this week, also an old tradition is shown - the dance of the "Papangus “. The men disguise themselves and scare the population, especially the children. According to the legend, they expel the angry spirits.