Estrada Real - Magé

It’s been a long journey, travelling through mountainous terrain, alongside rivers, through villages and cities. I arrived in Magé where the Estrada Real ended.

Historically, Magé played a very important role in the development of Brazil, being one of the first towns to emerge after its discovery in 1500. Magé began as a village in 1566 under the name Magepe-Mirim. Located on the Guanabara Bay, Magé’s economic activity centred around maritime trading. As Magé prospered it was elevated to parish status and by 1857 it was granted city status.

The first railway in South America was built here when the Mauá railroad connected Guia de Copaiba on the coast to Fragoso (both districts of Magé) over a track length of 9mi (15km). This was the beginning of railroad building that would eventually carry imported goods to the mining regions of Minas Gerais. Magé was the busiest port in colonial Brazil where extracted gold from Minas was shipped to Portugal.

With the abolition of slavery, former slaves left the region and most of the plantations disappeared. Thus began a gradual decline in the area until the 20th century when textile manufacturing moved in.

Today, there’s little evidence of its prosperous years, except for remnants of a railway turntable, a small station and a short section of narrow-gauge rail track at the end of a pier that at one time would have been part of a port.

It seemed fitting to finish here at the end of the railway track overlooking the bay. I imagine how busy the port was hundreds of years ago as ships sailed in with Portuguese goods and sailed out with gold and other treasures. A lot has changed, cities have grown and developed yet at the same time many have remained the same. Some may seem as if they’re stuck in a time capsule, others protect and preserve their history for future generations.

On that note I bid you farewell.



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