Tucuruí

Tucuruí Alcobaça
Municipality
Flag
Nickname(s): Capital of Energy
Country	Brazil
Region	Northern
State	Pará
Mesoregion	Sudeste Paraense
Population
• Total	100,000
Time zone	UTC -3

Tucuruí is a municipality in the state of Pará in the Northern region of Brazil.

The city is served by Tucuruí Airport.

The name Tucuruí is a Tupi word that means "river of ants" or "river of locusts". It's the concatenation of two tupi words: tukura (ants, locusts) and 'y (water). The city is very famous because of its colossal Dam, the Tucuruí Dam which is administered by Eletrobrás Eletronorte - the constructor company of this large infrastructure project.

Economy

Currently, Tucuruí city's economy is based on agriculture and general commerce. During its 60 years the commerce activity varied a lot. In the beginning there was a railroad for draining out the production of the Brazil Nut (known in Brazil as "Pará's Nut"), a very abundant available product in the region. The Tucuruí Dam developed the municipality and brought large industries for the region.

Tourism

Boats in Tucuruí. In the background: the Tucuruí Sluice.

The lighthouse in Tucuruí's pier. It was used a long time ago to signal the navigation through the rocks in the river

This is the Tocantins River in Tucuruí.

In Tucuruí you can explore the dam lake, one of the largest artificial lakes ever made by man. It has 74,6 meters of depth and more than 2.500 kilometers of total extension. You can visit islands, fishing Cichla or Tambaqui and see natural beauties that you can only find in Amazon. You can also explore the historical site of city with some old buildings and the Museum of Extinct Railroad - the historical museum with a lot of pictures and objects from the city beginning. You can check the train that was used in the period of Brazil Nut that was restored and placed in front of the Eletrobás Eletronorte Cultural Center. You can come in the Cultural Center and schedule a visit inside the hydroelectric dam to know how it works.

In February you can come for Tucuruí carnival party, one of most known in region. In June, there is the Tucunaré's festival (Cichla Festival), the festival where it's served a lot of traditional preparation of fish in region.

Gastronomy

Tucuruí has a privileged lake with a lot of species of fish. Naturally, the local gastronomy has a lot of fish on it. The most known is the Peixe no Saco (Fish in the Bag). The Peixe no Saco is an preparation of Chichla or Tambaqui with a wide variety of spices and herbs placed within the fish's stomach. The fish is then placed on a special waterproof bag with Soy sauce and roasted in oven or in firewood.

There are also other gastronomy options like the known indigenous food of the region. There is the Tacacá (a kind of broth made of tucupi, jambu [a native variety of paracress], starch and shrimp served in a gourd usually to drink without spoon or fork. There is just a toothpick for eating the shrimps and the herbs) and the Vatapá and maniçoba.

Airport

Tucuruí airport is located about 10 km far from the city. It is currently served only by Azul Brazilian Airlines.

See also

• List of municipalities in Pará