A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
375: Horse-powered carriage
When you visit the historic imperial city of Petrópolis, located at about 70 km from Rio de Janeiro, you will observe the ancient carriages pulled by horses. The carriages were brought to Petrópolis by English traders from Plymouth in 1846. Such a carriage is called a Victoria, named after the British queen. Decades later, they were used for touristic purposes, and since 1940, the Victorias carry large numbers of Brazilian and foreign tourists along the historic and architectural highlights of the city. However, the exploitation of the carriages and horses created serious controversy about the bad treatment of the horses. A referendum will be held in 2018 whether the use of carriages may continue or that they should be replaced by electric cars, for example.
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 2012, 2017
