Caririaçu

History

The lands of the Serra de São Pedro were inhabited by the Kariri, Guari, Indians before the arrival of entries into the Brazilian interior during the 17th century. The members of the entrances, military and religious, maintained their first contacts with the natives, studied the entire region of the Cariai, catechized the indigenous people and grouped them into villages or missions. The results of these contacts and discoveries triggered news that the region had gold in abundance and then a real race was unleashed towards the Brazilian sertões, where families from Portugal, dreaming of the riches of unexplored lands and hoping to find the ore, which would lead them to increase their material patrimony, in addition to increasing their personal prestige with the Portuguese court. The search for precious metal, on the banks of the Salgado River, brought colonization to the Sertão do Cariri region and, consequently, the donation of sesmarias, which allowed the emergence of villages and villages. Around the chapels of: São Francisco, São Pedro and Nossa Senhora do Carmo, created in the 19th century, the urban nucleus that today is called Caririaçu emerged. The first inhabitants of the mountains may have been José Joaquim de Santana or Miguel Cavalcante Campo, according to the testimony of historian Irineu Nogueira Pinheiro.

Geography

Hot tropical from September to December, and relatively cooler from June to August. Semi-arid with average rainfall of 1,198 mm, concentrated from January to April. However, Caririaçu, being a mountain town, has a colder climate compared to other cities in the Cariri Metropolitan Region. The main sources of water are part of the Salgado River basin, being the streams: Damião, do Jenipapeiro, do Jupari, dos Carneiros, Munlugu, Oitícica, Rosário, Samambaia, São Lourenço and many others. There are also several small reservoirs, the largest being the Manoel Balbino reservoir. Currently, the municipal seat is supplied with water from the Manoel Balbino Dam (sheep). The main elevations are: Located on the north side of Chapada do Araripe, it has two main types of soil: latosol and sedimentary. The main elevations are the mountains: São Pedro, Boqueirão and Verde. The sedimentary basin is characterized by forming aquifers; there are several sources of water scattered throughout the area of the plateau. The vegetation is quite diversified, presenting domains of caatinga and cerrado.

Most-observed species

• Yellow-breasted Flycatcher

  Tolmomyias flaviventris (Wied-Neuwied, 1831) · Aves
  75
• Sayaca Tanager

  Thraupis sayaca (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  72
• Black Vulture

  Coragyps atratus (Bechstein, 1793) · Aves
  68
• Southern House-Wren

  Troglodytes musculus J.F.Naumann, 1823 · Aves
  68
• Pale-legged Hornero

  Furnarius leucopus Swainson, 1838 · Aves
  67
• Tropical Gnatcatcher

  Polioptila plumbea (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  65
• Picui Ground-Dove

  Columbina picui (Temminck, 1813) · Aves
  65
• White-naped Jay

  Cyanocorax cyanopogon (Wied-Neuwied, 1821) · Aves
  62