Sobral — Sobral Map Poster

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Sobral Map Poster

Sobral is the main city of north-western Ceará, set on the Acaraú River in the dry backlands known as the sertão. The river curves along the edge of the centre, and a landscaped riverside park has turned the waterfront into one of the defining features of the map. To the north-west, the green ridge of the Serra da Meruoca rises above the flat, open plain.

The historic centre, protected as national heritage, keeps a grid of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century streets with churches, squares and a theatre from the period when Sobral grew prosperous on cattle and cotton. Around it, newer districts spread in wider blocks, with university campuses and industrial areas on the outskirts and main roads leaving toward Fortaleza and the interior.

Sobral holds a notable place in the history of science: during the total solar eclipse of 29 May 1919, British astronomers photographed stars here to test Einstein's general theory of relativity, and the results helped confirm it. A museum marks the event. A Sobral map poster honours a sertão city where the river, the old grid and a piece of scientific history meet.