The City of the Forgotten

04/17/2017 - 11h50

50 km from Porto Alegre (RS), surrounded by more than a thousand hectares of virgin forest, lies a ghost town.

Built during the Estado Novo, as part of the compulsory confinement policy for Hansen's Disease patients, the Itapuã colony was inaugurated in 1940 and housed 1,454 patients.

Identified as a carriers of the disease -also known as leprosy–, children, youth or adults were separated from their families and forced into isolation by the State, in a measure that would face criticism in the 50s and 60s, when alternative treatment options appeared.

Today, the Itapuã colony is still home to eight former patients who lost ties to the outside world and remained in the city even after they received permission to leave in 1986.

	Francisco Ribeiro/Divulgação
	Eva Nunes, 72, is one of the eight remaining residents

To be self-sufficient, the colony had a restaurant, hospital, school, church, prison and even its own currency.

It is that structure and its implications on the lives of thousands of Brazilians that, as of Monday (17), will be accessible virtually as part of the mixed media project Cidade Inventada (cidadeinventada.com.br), from Rumos Itaú Cultural. The page combines documents, photos and videos recorded at the site.

Eva Nunes, 72, is one of the eight remaining residents. She was only 12 when she arrived in 1959. "I became desperate when I arrived and tried to flee, but I was caught. They almost put me in jail."

Brazil is the champion of leprosy cases and sees nearly 26,000 new cases a year, many among children.

Translated by SUGHEY RAMIREZ

Read the article in the original language