Long before President Kubitschek dreamt of building a new capital for Brazil, Conselheiro Saraiva dreamt of building one for Piauí. He recognized that for the state to develop, it needed a city at the confluence of its two major rivers. Within a decade of its founding in 1852, Teresina had become the first large inland city of Northern Brazil, and it would be the template against which all future planned cities would be compared. Teresina's success is all the more impressive given its treacherous climate: Blisteringly hot and perpetually windy, saved from the threat of wildfire only by oppressive humidity and torrential summer rains. These conditions have done little to slow the city's growth, and Teresina feels the same immense population pressure as the most temperate of Brazilian cities.