Built during the rubber cycle produced from latex from rubber trees in the Amazon, the Adolpho Lisboa Municipal Market became one of the symbols of the economic and structural power of the city of Manaus at the end of the 19th century.
In this report, we will introduce a little of the history of its construction and its importance to the city yesterday and today.
INTERVIEWS:
- GERALDO DOS SANTOS, historian
- AMÉRICO DA SILVA, permit holder
PRODUCTION AND DIRECTION
Amazon Agency
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Johnathann Klismann
EDITING AND FINALIZATION
Alexandre Almeida
TP: 11'13"
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The first phase of the construction of the market, built in 1882, was this one.
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This market was built because the population of Manaus bought products from the interior on the riverbank.
Then the president of the province, Alarico Furtado, ordered the construction of the market.
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In 1900, during the government of Silvério Nery, Constantino Nery, they brought a friend of theirs called Adolpho Lisboa to Manaus.
This Adolpho Lisboa was the mayor of Manaus and then, with the rubber issue, they carried out this renovation.
According to research, the project was by the same engineer who built the Eiffel Tower.
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The design of the entire market, you can see that it is a market made entirely of iron, a French construction.
Some researchers say that it is similar to the French market and its architecture is art nouveau.
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Another situation here, the stained glass windows, you can see, it's the most beautiful thing.
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These stones are the stones of the iols that came from Portugal, they came on the ship.
It is also a landmark of the market
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Adolpho Lisboa opens it.
During Constantino Nery's government, as there was a problem with rubber, they made a concession.
They themselves made a project to take over the market.
When the rubber prices fell, Constantino Nery fought with Adolpho Lisboa because he wanted his share.
- Geraldo dos Santos, historian (credit)
Adolpho Lisboa did not give the money from the privatization and returned to Belém, where he lived.
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The market did not decline, but the population came to buy its products.
It was the place to sell everything the population needed.
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I started going to the market when I was three years old.
I would come at dawn with my father and he would come and do our family's shopping.
He would come and buy there, we would have a meat area, there was a vegetable area, which is where we are.
Inland products, like guarana, copaiba, andiroba.
Today we have them in other formats.
They sold fish, turtles, game, like paca, deer.
It was not forbidden to sell them here at the market.
In the past, there were pens, where there were chickens and you could choose live chickens.
If you didn't raise chickens at home, you would come to the market and buy them.
When the flour came, the flour came in these baskets.
There were leaves that closed and the flour came in these baskets.
The locals bought it and that's how the flour came to us.
Today it's a decorative object.
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The regional products were all sold in bottles that weren't pretty, like the ones you can see here.
There wasn't any pretty production, it wasn't factory-made, everything was manual.
This entire area was a big store, where they sold all kinds of products.
They sold rope tobacco, Umbanda products.
The market was listed as a federal historical heritage site.
And in 2006, during the Serafim Correia administration, the market was closed for restoration, which was inaugurated during the administration of Mayor Arthur Neto.
And the market remained like this.
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I started here at the market with my father.
- Américo da Silva, licensee (credit).
My father arrived here in 1976 to work in the market, because he came on the last boat that came from Fortaleza, and he arrived here in 1958. In 1976, he managed to work here in the market and worked in a sector called capoeira, which was located behind the fish market, formerly the turtle market.
In 1980, he bought a location, and then he bought this place and we started working with stevedores.
In 1983, I started working directly with him.
I worked directly with him since 1983, and then in 1992, he gave me his location, and then I started, in 1992, I started working directly for myself.
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I work with crafts, with regional products, mainly seeds, and wood as well, we always work with that here.
There are also other things, various fish, felt-tip pens, everything is made here in the Amazon, by local artisans.
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This is the reuse of Brazil nuts.
There is an artisan who transformed this hedgehog into this piece.
I always recommend that tourists, when they come, take our regional things, which are açaí seeds, bags made of wood, indigenous material.
This is especially true for international tourists, they really value this type of art.
Here, the only reusable things are buriti and açaí, which are very popular with tourists, these little frogs.
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They love these little frogs here, because of the frog's croaking.
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Our market here no longer has the same tradition of fish and meat, but now it continues to have a tradition of crafts.
Crafts are what's booming here at our market now.
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- Geraldo dos Santos, historian
In terms of tourism, the market has become more beautiful and more organized, but there are still older people who come and buy from the market.
To buy meat, shrimp, medicine.
So things changed with the renovation.
We have good restaurants here that serve local food, with great breakfasts.
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Here we have the fish area.
In the past, you could find all kinds of fish here.
Here you could buy turtles by the kilo, or by the pieces, or by the quarters, or you could buy the whole turtle, you could buy the snails, you could buy the snails, and the game was on this side.
The price was set by the government
We had a bell up front, when it was noon, the bell would ring and the employee would start, fish that wasn't sold, meat that was sold, he would throw it away, it was time for the creolina to be called.
So, all that fish was thrown away in the creolina, it couldn't be sold.
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Today we already have this area, a more processed fish, right?
For example, dried pirarucu, fresh pirarucu, look.
Now this is already from a factory that does this kind of work.
Here you have pirarucu with pentrecha, here you have pirarucu loin.
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You already have shrimp here next door, which didn't have this area.
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In the past, there wasn't this, like paintings for sale.
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You already have the flour in bags, it is no longer in baskets, it is no longer sold as it was in the past.
Technically, it is well placed, the sale is clear.
Tapioca flour too, it used to come in baskets today, which are already inside the bag.
These are pirarucu scales, you can make them, glue them, or you can make a nail file.
Here you have the pirarucu tongue.
What is it made of, from this?
You make grated guaraná or guaraná in natura, or guaraná in sticks, as they call it.
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- Geraldo dos Santos, historian.
Today we have a tourism product that needs to be explored more.
- Américo da Silva, permit holder.
We hope that in the future the market will improve a lot, to attract more tourists here to our market.
God willing, tourism will boom a lot.
- Geraldo dos Santos, historian
For those who want to come and visit the market, it opens at six in the morning. It's nice to arrive at six in the morning. It's opening, people are arriving.
So, I think we need Amazonians, Manauaras and tourists to come here more and more.
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