Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Goyaz

GOYAZ, or, as it was formerly called, Villa Boa de Goyaz, the chief town of the province of Goyaz in Brazil, in the valley of the auriferous Velmelho, a right-hand tributary of the Araguaia. It lies about 650 miles N.W. of Rio de Janeiro, and 700 miles S.W. of San Salvador. As a bishop s see, the seat of the provincial assembly, and the residence of a civil president and a military governor, it is a place of considerable importance ; and with its broad streets, wide squares, and well-built houses it ranks as one of the most attractive towns of Brazil. The public buildings comprise the legislative chambers, a court-house, a hospital, a prison, an institution for the assaying of gold, and a municipal slaughter-house. Goyaz was founded in 1736 under the name of Santa Anna, and it received its present designation about three years later when it was raised to the rink of a city. The population is about 8000.