Lençóis

Lençóis grew out of a diamond rush. Stones were found in the riverbeds of the Chapada Diamantina in the mid-1840s, and prospectors, the garimpeiros, poured in to work the gravel with pans and sluices. The settlement was separated from Santa Isabel do Paraguaçu, now Mucugê, as the Vila de Lençóis in 1856 and became a town in 1864. In the second half of the 19th century it was among the world's leading sources of diamonds and the third most important town in Bahia, rich enough to import luxuries and to host a French vice-consulate. The stone bridge across the river was built around 1860, using labour left idle by the great drought of 1859–1862, and the most elaborate buildings, such as the chapel of Nosso Senhor dos Passos, date from these years.

The discovery of diamonds in South Africa in the 1860s and the exhaustion of the local deposits brought a crisis from the 1870s. Many miners left; others turned to cutting stones, and coffee and later carbonado, a dark form of diamond, revived the economy for a time. In the early 20th century the Lavras Diamantinas were dominated by rural bosses, the coronéis, and their armed men; the most powerful, Horácio de Matos, controlled the region in the 1920s and fought the Prestes Column, and the town's airport now bears his name.

By the mid-20th century the diamonds were largely gone. A community movement won national heritage listing for the town's architecture and landscape from IPHAN in 1973, and the creation of the Chapada Diamantina National Park in 1985 set Lençóis on its course as a centre for walking tourism.

The town's identity is still bound up with the garimpo, the small-scale diamond digging that built it. The heritage-listed centre is made of adobe and stone houses that follow the uneven ground, some streets paved with the bare bedrock, with the churches of Nossa Senhora da Conceição and Nosso Senhor dos Passos as its landmarks. Stories of fortunes made and lost and of the coronéis of the 1920s are part of local memory, and the writer Afrânio Peixoto was born here.

Tourism has given the town a cosmopolitan air. From the 1980s to the mid-1990s visitors were mostly young backpackers; today travellers from around the world fill its narrow streets, and agencies, independent guides and climbers share the squares with long-time residents. Agencies in town also arrange rock climbing with guides and equipment.

Life is otherwise that of a small inland Bahian town, Catholic in its calendar and unhurried in pace, with a strong sense of being the gateway to the Chapada.

About 11,000 people live in the municipality, according to the 2024 IBGE estimate, spread over about 1,280 square kilometres. Around 120,000 tourists a year visit, staying on average about eight days, and tourism is the main source of work: pousadas, restaurants, agencies, guiding, transport and craft shops. The town has the best tourist infrastructure in the Chapada, including its airport.

The rhythm of the day follows the visitors. Tour vehicles and groups of walkers leave in the early morning, the streets are quiet in the heat of the day, and the squares fill again at dusk as people come back from the trails to eat outside.

Seasonality is a constant concern. The busy months are the July holidays and the summer holidays around New Year and Carnival, while weekdays out of season are quiet. Heavy rain in the wet season can make the rivers dangerous, and the park that draws the visitors is a protected area administered by the federal Chico Mendes Institute.

Inland Bahia eats differently from the coast. Where Salvador cooks with dendê palm oil and coconut milk, the cooking of the north-eastern interior includes carne de sol, sun-cured beef. These dishes appear on the menus of regional restaurants in town alongside Bahian classics such as moqueca, the fish stew made with coconut milk and dendê.

Because of the many foreign visitors, the choice is wider than in most towns of its size: the restaurants around the main square and in the lanes nearby include Italian kitchens making their own pasta and bread, Arabic food and simple places for a cheap meal. Lampião, on Rua Miguel Calmon, serves north-eastern regional cooking, Bodega is on Rua das Pedras, and handmade lasagne and pizzas in many flavours appear on Italian menus.

Agencies running multi-day treks arrange the food along with transport and guides. The caipirinha, made with cachaça, lime and sugar, is the usual drink at the end of a day on the trails.