Friends, let's go on another trip together, another mini-series of videos, this time to travel the SERITINGA TRAILS. Almost 300 km were filmed the entire time! Enjoy!! Cruzília is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, more specifically in the south/southwest region of the state. According to the census carried out by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in 2022, its population is 15,362 inhabitants. Those born in Cruzília receive the gentilic cruziliense Cruzília - meaning: "land of the Cross". The original name of the locality was crossroads. This name originated from the fact that the village was located next to the crossroads formed by two important roads in the colonial period, one of these roads that connected the municipalities of São João Del Rei to Aiuruoca and the other Rio de Janeiro to the gold region of Minas Gerais. Cruzília belongs to the Old Road of the Royal Road. It is known for its centuries-old farms, for being the birthplace of the Mangalarga Marchador horse breed and its furniture industry, and currently receives great prominence and international recognition for the production of fine cheeses. Historical data shows that: The first inhabitants of the region were gold prospectors who probably came from the Province of São Paulo, and who explored the alluvial gold found on the slopes of hills on the banks of streams in that area. Even today, several excavations on the banks of streams in the municipal territory are evidence of the presence of those pioneers. Only after the gold mining phase did the first farmers and slave owners arrive. The highest point of the city is Serrinha, at 1,360 meters above sea level. 19th-century farms that preserve the traditions of patriarchal families in the region can still be found in the municipality today. Before being named Cruzília, the town had the names of São Sebastião da Encruzilhada, Encruzilhada, Cruz da Estrada and Cruziléia. This original name of Encruzilhada appears since the remote years of 1718, when Francisco Martins, Diogo Pires, Tomé de Souza e Silva, Pedro da Silva Góis and Diogo Moreira, all of them residents of Encruzilhada, sought to pay the taxes owed to the Crown, in the old District of Baependi. In 1726 D. Lourenço de Almeida, governor of Minas Gerais, granted a land grant to Manoel de Sá, obliging himself to cultivate it within a period of two years. This Manoel de Sá was the first owner of the Encruzilhada site, on whose lands the place was founded. This is recorded in the parish records of Baependi, in the specification “assistants at the Encruzilhada site”, from the year 1732. Other, later records are clearer in the designation of the place, which was then growing. In 1800, the name “Encruzilhada neighborhood” already appears in the records of Baependi. Its old cemetery dates back to the year 1758. Until that time, there were no chapels in the locality, except on farms. The main farms in the region at that time were those of the brothers João and José de Souza Meireles, who had oratories in their homes, duly provided by the diocesan authority. This oratory (that of José de Souza Meireles) was dedicated to Saint Joseph and was built on the Angaí farm. The Encruzilhada chapel dates back to the year 1861. It was blessed by the vicar of Baependi, Canon Joaquim Gomes do Carmo, on August 11 of that year. The first record of livestock farming in the region was in 1805, with the arrival of some Dutch dairy cattle. Historical records indicate that in 1822 the place was already mentioned as Bairro da Encruzilhada. In 1858, the first store was built, owned by Manoel Domingues Maciel, and it was from there that the village developed. Between 1861 and 1862, the chapel of São Sebastião was built by Antonio Pinto Ribeiro. In 1874, the Parish of São Sebastião da ENCRUZILHADA was created, and the village became a district of the city of Baependi. In 1938, the village's name was reduced from São Sebastião da Encruzilhada to Encruzilhada. In 1939, the locality received a visit from the then President of the Republic Getúlio Vargas. In 1943, the district was renamed Cruzília, by force of a decree-law and five years later it became a municipality by Law No. 336 of December 27, 1948, achieving the emancipation of Baependi and beginning a new stage in its political and administrative history. #vstrom650 #minasgerais #motovlog