The City

Curitiba is the capital of Paraná, one of the three States that make up the Southern Region of Brazil. Its official foundation dates from March 29, 1693, when the Chamber was created.

In the 17th century, its main economic activity was mining, combined with subsistence agriculture. The next cycle, which lasted through the 18th and 19th centuries, was that of the tropeira activity, derived from cattle raising. Tropeiros were cattle drivers who circulated between Viamão, in Rio Grande do Sul, and Feira de Sorocaba, in São Paulo, leading cattle whose final destination was Minas Gerais. The long road and the bad weather meant that the tropeiros ha to make stops, waiting for the end of the harsh winters, in farms like those located in the "fields of Curitiba". The tropeiros had customs like the ground fire to roast the meat and tell "stories", the typical accent, the mate (local tea herb) with hot water in the gourd (the Indians used it in the form of tererê, with cold water), the use of wool ponchos, the opening of paths and the foundation of villages.

By the end of the 19th century, with the cycle of yerba mate and wood in expansion, two events were very marked: the mass arrival of European immigrants and the construction of the Paranaguá-Curitiba Railway, connecting the Coast to the First Paraná Plateau.
Immigrants - European and from other continents -, throughout the 20th century, gave a new connotation to the daily life of Curitiba. Their ways of being and doing became so incorporated into the city that today there are many ethnic and civic parties from Curitiba, dance, music, cooking, expressions and the memory of their ancestors. This is represented in the various immigration memorials, in public spaces such as parks and municipal woods. 
The "mythical immigrant of work" (observation of the poet Paulo Leminski, who died in the last century), combined with municipal management without breaking continuity, ended up creating a planned Curitiba - internationally awarded, in urban management, environment and public transportation.

The Paraná State capital, formed on a plateau 934 meters above sea level, lacking landscape landmarks offered by nature, ended up creating its main references for science and the human hand.
In the 20th century, in the scenario of the planned city, the industry strongly joined the economic profile previously based on commercial activities and the service sector. The city faced, especially in the 1970s, accelerated urbanization, largely caused by migrations from the countryside, arising from the replacement of agricultural labor by machines. 

Curitiba now faces the challenge of a large metropolis, where the urban issue is rethought under the humanist approach that the city is primarily of those who live in it. Its people, an admirable melting pot that brought together foreigners from all parts of the world and Brazilians from all corners, teaches in everyday life the art of meeting and living together. Curitiba is reborn every day with hope and work in its veins, as in the dawns of its pioneers.