![[Flag of Lapa, PR (Brazil)]](../images/b/br-pr-185.gif)
Last modified: 2022-03-05 by ian macdonald
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image by
Ivan Sache,
5
February 2022
The municipality of Lapa (47,909 inhabitants in 2019; 209,386 ha) is
located 60 km south-west of Curitiba.
Lapa emerged in the late 16th
century as a resting and wintering place established along the Viamão Road by
tropeiros conveying cattle from Rio Grande do Sul to the Sorocaba fair. The
early settlement was established by João Pereira Braga and his wife, Josefa
Gonçalves da Silva, close to the Curitiba Registrar, a post where rights of
passage were perceived, and, accordingly, conveys could stay for long periods.
On 13 June 1769, Father João da Silva Reis, the founders' son, established the
parish of Santo Antônio de Lisboa, which was renamed to Santo Antônio de Lapa on
13 June 1797. In 1806, having 2,235 inhabitants, the settlement was granted the
status of town, under the new name of Vila Nova de Principe, by Captain
Francisco Teixeira Coelho.
The municipality of Lapa was established on 7
March 1872, separating from Curitiba. The town's new name ("flagstone") was
coined after the great number of stones found in the area.
The Monk's
Cave, located in a rocky area, is famous for the mystic and miraculous powers
attributed to monk João Maria D'Agostinis, who lived in the cave from 1847 to
1855. Locally revered as St. João Maria, the monk studied local flora, cured
illness and prophesied; accordingly, the cave, now part of the Monk State Park,
is still a popular place of pilgrimage. Some say that a crack in a stone of the
Monk's Cave reproduces the image of the saint.
Historical records state that
another two monks subsequently lived in
the cave, one during the Federalist
Revolution and an other one in 1912.
The siege of Lapa was an episode of
the Federalist Revolution. To stop the insurrection, Marshal Floriano Peixoto
appointed General Francisco de Paula Argolo commander of the 5th Military
District. In October 1893, the general sent expeditionary forces to the towns of
Tijucas, Paranaguá, and Lapa.
While Tijucas and Paranaguá surrendered to the
insurgents, Lapa remained under Republican control. On 2 December, General
Argolo appointed Colonel Antônio Ernesto Gomes Carneiro (1846-1894) commander of
Lapa garrison. Transported by railway, some 1,200 insurgents arrived in Lapa on
14 January 1894; they started the assault of the town three days later. Carneiro
refused any surrender proposal and was killed during a fighting on 9 February;
Lapa surrendered two days later, which ended a 26-days siege.
The resistance
of the Republican troops in Lapa allowed Peixoto to organize the defense of the
town of Itararé (São Paulo), and, therefore, to impede the advance of the rebels
to Rio de Janeiro.
The remains of the defenders of Lapa are interred in the
Heroes' Pantheon, inaugurated on 7 February 1944, one of the most important
civic monuments in Paraná.
https://lapa.atende.net/
Municipal website
The flag and arms of
Lapa are prescribed by Municipal Law No. 439 promulgated on 12 June 1969.
§1. The coat of arms shall be described as follows.
A Portuguese
rounded-off shield, field azure charged with a cannon. The shield supported
dexter and sinister by tropeiros after drawings of the time. The writing 13 June
1769.
§2.The flag shall be described as follows.
On a white field the coat
of arms, in proportions 3x2, based on the flag of Portugal.
§3. The mural
crown argent represents the town. On a blue field (the color representing
loyalty in heraldry), a cannon proper, symbolizing the heroic resistance of the
besieged Federalist troops, a feat that immortalized Lapa in the national
context. The supporters emphasize the presence of tropeiros, a pioneering
activity that developed Paraná's hinterland, with Lapa as its center. The date
inscribed on the scroll corresponds to the celebration of the first mass,
therefore it is the date of foundation of the town.
The former flag of
Lapa was green with a vertical white stripe. The former coat of arms featured
two fighting bulls.
https://canaldacidade.com.br/simbolos-municipais/
Unofficial website
Photo
https://www.facebook.com/PrefeituradaLapa/photos/3606853966080381
Ivan Sache, 5 February 2022
