Before slavery was abolished in Brazil in 1887, slaves who escaped hid in forests where they set up independent communities called quilombos. Of these, some prospered for several decades. The most important and famous of these quilombos was the Republic of Palmares in the State of Alagoas, which lasted 65 years and at one time, had nearly 30,000 inhabitants. This quilombo was destroyed in 1695 and its inhabitants were killed or sent back into slavery. The old republic has become a place of pilgrimage that is very moving.