Águas de São Pedro

Águas de São Pedro is a Brazilian city of the state of São Paulo. It is the smallest Brazilian city in territorial extension, with only 3.640 km².

[edit] History

Águas de São Pedro emerged when Octávio de Moura Andrade discovered the medicinal properties from the mineral water mines of the city around 1920, when the State Governor started researches in the area for oil prospection. The researches failed in the attempt to find oil and the rigs were abandoned, but still gushing out mineral water. Later other attempts had been made to find oil in great depths, and again no oil was found. One oil rig structure still remains nowadays and it's called "Engineer Ângelo Balloni Oil Tower".

Years later, in 1934, an italian immigrant and owner of the perforated lands, Ângelo Franzin, built a small bath house (currently known as "Youth Fountain") where he bathed himself. The water had a characteristic smell of sulphur. One year later a group of people of the roundnesses bought a lot of 100,000 m² around the bath house and built a health resort. It was twelve masonry bathtubs, in contrast with the first bath house, that was wooden. In the same year, Octávio de Moura Andrade decided to build the spa, giving the name of "Caldas de São Pedro" to it and creating with his brother, Antonio Joaquim de Moura Andrade, the company "Águas Sulfídricas e Termais de São Pedro S.A." ("Saint Peter Thermal and Sulphidric Waters S.A." in english).

In four years the Technological Researches Institute of the USP made analyses with the waters. The waters were considered good to bath and its medicinal properties had been confirmed.

Recognizing the importance of the thermal waters, the São Paulo State Government founded in June 19, 1940 the Estância Hidromineral e Climática de Águas de São Pedro (Hidromineral and Climatic Spa of Águas de São Pedro english).