Maranguape

Fortaleza
Ceará
Cities of Ceará

Distance from Fortaleza: 93 km (58 mi). Maranguape has a population of about 100,000 inhab. and tourists arrive by CE-065.
Two important Brazilian people were born in Maranguape: Capistrano de Abreu, one of the greatest Historiagraphers of Brazil, and Chico Anysio, a popular comedy man whose jokes usually make reference to the small Maranguape.

Mountain weather near the big city. In Maranguape, tourists find beautiful mountain and sertão (backwoods) landscapes; the city has Maranguape Eco Museum, the first ecological museum in Ceará. The Town Theater, the Culture House and the Artistic Society stage cultural groups that infuse new life in the carnival tradition. These activities are organized by the Natural and Cultural Heritage Association of Maranguape, established in Bonifácio's House, an old house where the cultural center can be found; its old architecture exhales History.

Old houses in Maranguape

What makes the town famous is the Cachaça Museum. It's an interesting trip for adults and children, telling the story of this genuinely Brazilian drink and of the Telles Family, who has been producing cachaça for 5 generations. The Museum is a colonial style house and its construction was finished in 1851. There, visitors learn about the old fashioned way to produce the drink and walk through the balm and oak barrels that keep drinks produced in 1968 and 1971 and also get to know the 600 names cachaça has all over Brazil.

Besides this visit, tourists can also include Amanari Dam in the route, as well as the Woods and Pico da Rajada (Rajada Peak, good for rappel and other eco sports), with a great diversity of bromeliads and orchids and also beautiful waterfalls.

Museum of Cachaça

In 1846, the Portuguese Dário Telles de Menezes arrived in Maranguape bringing a small ceramic alembic and started producing this alcoholic drink. More than a century and a half later, that small business became Ypioca, one of the largest producers of cachaça in Brazil (in Ceará, Ypioca is considered a high standard cachaça; drinks made with Ypióca, or an Ypióca shot alone, usually have an extra cost). And Ypióca now hosts the Cachaça Museum, one of the best equipped in the Country, which tells the story of this typically Brazilian drink, known internationally. Made of sugarcane, cachaça is the essential part of one of the most famous cocktails in the world: caipirinha.

Machinery and old equipments used to make cachaça, such as the manual mill and the copper alembic are shown in the museum. The construction, in colonial style, is from 1846 and is another attraction of the place. Tourists can get to know the fabrication process of cachaça going through the big oak barrels, seeing exotic cachaça bottles and visiting an old-style tavern.

With this entire infrastructure, it's hard not to go for a drink. There, visitors can try cachaça in different flavors and from different periods. The museum also receives students on field trips. To enjoy this enriching historical and cultural day trip, just go towards Maranguape on CE-065. The museum is in the place where the first Ypióca Cachaça Factory used to work, on the side of the road. Telephone for further information: 00 55 85 3341-0407. See more photos of the Museum of Cachaça.

More information about Maranguape:
http://www.maranguape.ce.gov.br. Maintained by the city government.

Source of information: State of Ceara Tourism Authority.

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