Lençóis: The gateway to Chapada Diamantina

Lençóis is the gateway to the Chapada Diamantina. The town was founded when diamond deposits were discovered in Mucugê in the mid-19th century.

At that time, adventurers arrived in large numbers and set up tents that, from a distance, looked like stretched sheets, giving the town its name.

This origin of the name reflects the aesthetics of the place and is inextricably linked to the history of the town and its development during the Diamond Cycle.

The importance of the diamond fields

The diamond deposits were fundamental to the history of Lençóis, marking the beginning of its development and prosperity. During the 19th century, the discovery of these deposits attracted a large number of adventurers and prospectors, transforming the town into a vibrant economic centre.

This Diamond Cycle brought wealth to the region, allowing Lençóis to become the richest city in the Chapada Diamantina. The importance of the deposits is reflected in several aspects:

• Population Growth: The arrival of people seeking fortune caused the population to grow rapidly, contributing to the formation of the local community.
• Economic Development: Trade and infrastructure expanded to meet the demands of prospectors and traders, resulting in an active market.
• Political Influence: The wealth generated by diamonds allowed influential figures such as Colonel Horácio de Mattos to wield significant political power, influencing regional and even federal decisions.
• Culture and Identity: The diamond era left a lasting mark on the local culture, still visible in the city’s architecture and popular traditions.
• Decadence and Reinvention: With the depletion of the deposits, Lençóis faced challenges, but also reinvented itself by exploring other economic activities, such as tourism, which is now one of its main sources of income.

The diamond cycle

Lençóis was the richest town in the Chapada during the Diamond Cycle. A French Consulate was even established there to facilitate the export of the precious stones.

However, when the deposits were exhausted, Lençóis fell into decadence, surviving on the extraction of carbonates and having to put up with the excesses of the colonels, who provoked major conflicts in the region.

Conflicts and influence

The most famous of these was Colonel Horácio de Mattos, who had great political influence, including with the Federal Government.

Culture and festivities

The architecture of Lençóis preserves the memory of its opulent past. Folkloric events have a prominent place; the liveliest are the June Festivals, held in public squares, with shows, cavalhadas, forrós and quadrilhas.

Winter Festival

The Lençóis Winter Festival features performances by renowned artists and is free of charge.

The shops, restaurants, bars and main services are concentrated in the streets near Lençóis’ Main Square, where the forró takes place.

Videos about Lençóis in Chapada Diamantina

Map of Chapada Diamantina

Map of trails and tourist sites in the Chapada Diamantina

History of Lençóis in Chapada Diamantina

The architectural and landscape ensemble of Lençóis was declared a Historic-Artistic Site by IPHAN in 1973. The city is located in the central-western region of Bahia, in a natural amphitheatre on the eastern slope of the Serra do Sincorá.

Heritage features

The complex is very rich and interesting, having preserved many of its original features, and is situated in a mountainous region, in the area of the Chapada Diamantina National Park, famous for its stunning natural beauty. There are 570 properties in the protected area.

Economic boom

The cultural heritage of Lençóis portrays the economic heyday of the cities of the Chapada in the 19th century.

Between 1845 and 1871, it was the world’s largest producer of diamonds and the third most important city in Bahia, becoming a trading centre for the export of mineral products to Europe and the import of luxury goods, to the point where a French Vice Consulate was installed in the city to facilitate trade with that country.

Urban development

In a period of rapid development, the first sobrados and more elaborate buildings appeared in the city.

Its architectural collection is mainly made up of houses and sobrados from the second half of the 19th century, built using different techniques, among which the use of adobe or stone predominates, as well as independent wooden structures with damped earth seals.

Characteristics of the houses

These houses are characterised by the bright colours of their brickwork and window frames. Civil architecture is more important than religious architecture, and there is no single dominant monument in the listed complex.

Settlement formation

This group corresponds to the entire urban area of the city, due to the topography and lack of planning in the typical occupation of mining centres of the 18th and 19th centuries.

The city was formed from two centres: Serrano and São Félix, where diamond mining began at the same time and which were later merged into a single urban area.

Development of the centres

The centre of Serrano was located on a high point on the bank of a river rapids, and as the settlement consolidated it moved towards the present Praça Horácio de Matos, with its gentler topography, to join the other centre on the opposite bank of the river.

Colonial street layout

The colonial layout was created by the piles built around the Church of Our Lady of the Conception and the bridge linking the settlements on either side of the river.

The construction of the bridge in 1860 took up the idle labour of the victims of the great drought that struck the Sertão between 1859 and 1862.

Large sobrados

The large sobrados that make up the old Market – now Praça Horácio de Matos – were built around this time, and there are five listed buildings. One of these sobrados served as the Council House, but was demolished in the 1940s to make way for the Post and Telegraph Office.

Disorderly development

Like all mining settlements, Lençóis developed in a disorderly fashion: the urban typology is made up of an irregular grid of streets that adapt to the terrain, interspersed with small squares and plazas.

Some of the streets are paved with the local stone.

Paving and widening

The new roads – spontaneous or from the expansion area approved by IPHAN – go up and down hillsides, imitating the layout of the colonial roads, while others are paved with irregular stones that form decorative patterns.

Monuments and public spaces in Lençóis

Lençóis has several listed monuments and public spaces of great historical and cultural importance. The most important are

• Praça Horácio de Matos (the city’s main public square)
• Municipal Public Market
• Bridge over the Lençóis River
• Town Hall
• Iphan technical office building
• Former Health Centre
• Arena Theatre
• Church of Our Lady of the Rosary
• Church of Our Lord of the Stairs
• Afrânio Peixoto Cultural Centre and Amphitheatre
• Public Library
• Public Archives
• Among others

Characteristics of the collection

The Lençóis collection is made up of buildings from the second half of the last century, built using various techniques, mainly adobe, with an emphasis on bright colours.

1. IPHAN headquarters in Lençóis
2. UEFS Advanced Campus Building
3. Former French Vice-Consulate
4. Cultural Market
5. Bridge over the Lençóis River
6. Church of Our Lady of the Rosary in Lençóis

1. IPHAN headquarters in Lençóis

For a long time, it housed the town hall on the ground floor, the public prison in the basement and later the town hall.

The architecture of this building makes it a good example of eclecticism,” says architect and town planner Liziane Peres Mangili, who specialises in the conservation and restoration of historical heritage.

According to historian Delmar de Araújo, the model of the lions was inspired by Colonel César Sá, one of the residents, who, on a trip to Europe, was inspired by the architecture of the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain.

2. UEFS Advanced Campus Building

The neo-Gothic Sobrado is located on the corner of Praça Horácio de Matos. As a reaction to neoclassicism, this style spread and was very popular at the end of the 19th century, especially in the cities of Lençóis and Andaraí.

3. Former French Vice-Consulate

This neo-Gothic building used to be a diamond trading centre for the French Syndicate, an activity that led to it being recognised as the country’s Vice-Consulate during the heyday of the mineral. Today it is a residential building on the upper floor and a commercial centre on the lower floor.

4. Cultural market

Built between the end of the 19th century and the 1940s, the current Mercado Cultural in Lençóis was once the site of a street market, the city’s first cinema, the setting for the film ‘Diamante Bruto’ (starring Orlando Senna), dances and even the city’s first television, around which people gathered to watch the news, soap operas and World Cup matches.

Its façade facing the Lençóis River, with its exposed stones, has allowed it to blend in perfectly with the natural surroundings, giving the city a unique landscape aspect.

5. Bridge over the Lençóis River

In 1859 there was an economic crisis in the city, caused by a drought. In 1860, in order to create jobs and income for the people, the state government started to build the bridge. “Three full arches, also known as Roman arches, make up this bridge, which has a strong and massive appearance.

It was originally covered with plaster, which was removed during the Monumenta programme in 2000, in order to integrate it better with the riverbed.

Some writers say that the mortar was made of egg white and castor oil.

6. Church of Our Lady of the Rosary in Lençóis

Built in 1830, this is the largest church in the Bahia interior.

Lençóis Tourist Attractions in the Chapada Diamantina

1 Our Lord of the Stairs Church

2. Afrânio Peixoto Museum

3. Serrano

4. Halls of coloured sands

5. Waterfall

6. Harley’s Well

7. Spring Waterfall

8. Sossego Waterfall

9. Ribeirão do Meio

10. Devil’s Well

11. Lapão Cave

12. Mandassaia Waterfalls

13. Serra das Paridas

14. Village of Remanso

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