Bicas: A brief history and heritage overview

The small city of Bicas is located in the Southwest region of Brazil, more precisely in Zona da Mata
sub-region of Minas Gerais state. It has around around 15.000 habitants and it is highly influenced
by Juiz de Fora, a city which development was stablished by coffee production and industry
(specially textile). Nowadays, however, Juiz de Fora is well-known as a university town, with strong
trade and services. As its neighbor, distinguishing of course in terms of scale, Bicas has primarily
developed due to the agricultural production, as we are about to know.

In the beginning of 19th century, as a Portuguese colony, the economy of Minas Gerais was about
to change, after a great period of gold extraction for the Portuguese crown. Brazil, a slavery-based
society, gained status in 1808, when the Portuguese court moved to Rio de Janeiro, after Portugal
invasion led by French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. A few years later, the country conquered its
independency and was transformed into an Empire ruled by Dom Pedro I. This decision, of course,
had many interests and many actors involved and was only made after many years of fight for
autonomy.

In this background, the physical-geographical conditions of Zona da Mata sub-region caught

farmer’s eyes, who were former gold miners or newcomers from Portugal. The properties, usually
located next to the streams, were conceded to them by the court. Provided by slave labor and a
fertile soil, the farmers gauged out the dense forest to produce different cultures, but mainly
coffee. The land owners, in order to meet the costumer’s needs, built chapels which led the
development of small settlements around their coffee plantations.

It was around the dirt roads which

connected these villages where Bicas
took place. The troopers who carried
all sort of products on the roads used
to rest, after long journeys, in small
vernacular ranches in Bicas. These
ranches were covered with heart of
palms’ leaves and in rain seasons, the
drops used to fall in “water springs”,
which is the translation of the word
“Bicas”. The picture on the left shows
one of the biggest and most important
coffee farms in Bicas’ territory at that time, the Saracura Farm, where Colonel Souza, an iconic
figure for the city’s history, was born.

The village only faced a solid growth, however, after 1879, when a railway station was inaugurated
in the city, as a part of Leopoldina Railway Company. This railroad was installed due to coffee
barons’ need for transportation of their goods, in a context of fast expansion of the railway
network in the whole national territory. The train transported people and goods to Mauá’s Port in
Rio de Janeiro, where the coffee was shipped to Europe. In 1889, one year after the abolition of
slavery, it was proclaimed the Republic of Brazil. Around these years, a lot of immigrants have
arrived in Brazil, attracted by its raising economy and need for workers.

Italian, Lebanese, Portuguese, French, Spanish, Greek, Polish, Swiss and Egyptian families came to
Bicas and stablished their lives. One major reason: the mechanical workshops of Leopoldina
 Company. They were located in sheds
and employed hundreds of workers
since its foundation, producing,
repairing and maintaining the
locomotives. Around this complex it
was stablished the first conurbation
center. In the picture on the left, it’s
possible to identify a coffee plantation
in the hill behind the sheds, clearly
demonstrating Bicas’ topographic
feature and economic activities. A
second basis, not far from the station,
was stablished around Saint Joseph
Church. Several churches were then
built and led the occupation of new
areas. Catholicism was always part of
village’s daily life in Brazil since colonial
times.

The city diversified its economic

activities in the next decades, from
sugar cane production in rural areas to
Footwear production. It was mainly
around the locomotive’s path where
the city developed. However, after the
removal of the tracks in the 80’s and demolition of the sheds in the 90’s, the scenario slowly has
changed. After long years of economic stagnation, only commercial and service segments outstand,
reaching local and regional areas.

As we have seen, Bicas is a small city settled in stream’s terraces in the middle of the “ocean of
hills”, with a beautiful landscape and a virtuous past. The city has left a significant cultural legacy,
for example its architecture, going through different typologies, styles and influences. From eclectic
to modern, the predecessors’ fingerprints are everywhere: the vernacular farms built by slaves with
African and Portuguese combined techniques, the reminiscent English railway workshops, the
German-influenced half-timbered houses, and so on.

As examples of intangible heritage, we could mention the religious celebrations, craft techniques,
farming techniques, food recipes, the workshops’ siren and many other. However, the city’s
memory is threatened to be forgotten. The urban landscape, which supports these activities, has
been changing recently. The historical buildings have been replaced by ones that weakens the
image of the city, especially the city center. Plus, many traditions are not recognized and
inventoried, which is the theme of the next topic: the instruments, guidelines and actors involved
in local cultural preservation.

In a national level, the Constitution settles the legal basis for designate, list and register our cultural
heritage. The National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN) is responsible for
protecting and promoting Brazilian assets, conserving and monitoring them through different
programs since 1937. IPHAN has 27 sub offices, one for each state of the Republic. In Minas Gerais’
state, the office is called IEPHA-MG, or State Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage.

On the other hand, Brazil has a decentralized heritage policy. The municipalities, then, are the main
responsible for its heritage management. In Bicas, the Heritage Director is responsible for heritage
protection and is part of the Culture Department. The Director is also member of the Municipal
Heritage Council, which is comprised of 8 members of the civil society (I am proudly part of it). This
small staff usually helps a private third-party company to evaluate and list our cultural assets and
promotes cultural education. IEPHA, then, evaluate the work and funds the municipality
accordingly to the quality and density of it, recognizing and protecting our tangible and intangible
heritage.

Bicas has 67 material heritage listed,

including movable and immovable
ones, but only 7 designated. In Minas
Gerais level, only one chapel. The
situation is even worse if we look at
immaterial heritage. Only a few
celebrations appear on the list. I will
talk more about them in the next
assignment. For now, as we now see,
there is so much work to do, and time is
running.