Learn more about the history and culture of Paraty
Paraty: UNESCO Mixed World Heritage Site for Culture and Biodiversity
In 2019, Paraty was recognized as a UNESCO Mixed World Heritage Site for Culture and Biodiversity.
With approximately 85% of its native vegetation cover well preserved, the mixed heritage site forms the second-largest remaining forest area of the Atlantic Forest biome. In addition to its vast size, the different types of vegetation provide a habitat for incomparable fauna and flora, including several rare and endemic species.
The site has Outstanding Universal Value due to its natural and cultural characteristics, as well as the interaction between them. “The UNESCO Office in Brazil celebrates the inscription of this new Brazilian site on the World Heritage List. Paraty is already part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the field of Gastronomy and now demonstrates the richness of its local diversity by becoming a mixed World Heritage Site, recognized for both its cultural and natural heritage. Shaped by the exchange between Indigenous, African and Caiçara cultures, which are expressed through the city’s cultural assets, Paraty combines unique characteristics of both tangible and intangible heritage. At the same time, the city provides examples of traditional communities that use the land and sea sustainably, demonstrating the interaction between people and the environment. Together with Ilha Grande, the site becomes even more representative, with areas of exceptional natural beauty,” said Marlova Jovchelovitch Noleto, Director and Representative of UNESCO in Brazil.
With its important architectural heritage and rich landscapes of outstanding natural beauty, the city of Paraty has received well-deserved recognition.
The Historic Center is surrounded by four environmental conservation areas: Serra da Bocaina National Park, Ilha Grande State Park, Praia do Sul State Biological Reserve and Cairuçu Environmental Protection Area, covering a territory of almost 149,000 hectares.
According to UNESCO, Natural World Heritage Sites protect areas considered exceptional in terms of biological diversity and landscape. Environmental protection, respect for cultural diversity and the preservation of traditional communities receive special attention.
In addition to benefiting nature, these sites provide an important source of income through the development of ecotourism.
The investments associated with this recognition are important for the development of the region.
The nomination involved the Ministry of the Environment (MMA), the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), the State Environmental Institute (Inea), together with the Ministry of Culture, the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan), the State Institute of Cultural Heritage (Inepac), and the municipal governments of Angra dos Reis and Paraty.
This is Brazil’s first mixed World Heritage Site, meaning that it includes both cultural and natural heritage. Of the more than one thousand World Heritage Sites, only 39 sites in 31 countries were classified as mixed sites at the time, including Machu Picchu in Peru.
Brazil’s list of World Heritage Sites includes Ouro Preto (MG), Olinda (PE), São Luís (MA), the Historic Center of the Town of Goiás (GO), Salvador (BA), Brasília’s Pilot Plan, the Pantanal, the islands of Fernando de Noronha and Rocas Atoll, Iguaçu National Park (PR), Rio de Janeiro’s Carioca Landscapes and Valongo Wharf (RJ).
Mixed Heritage Site
The mixed heritage site covers almost 149,000 hectares, with Paraty’s Historic Center surrounded by four environmental conservation areas.
These are Serra da Bocaina National Park, Ilha Grande State Park, Praia do Sul State Biological Reserve and Cairuçu Environmental Protection Area.
From Ilha Grande Bay, there are 187 islands, many of them covered with primary vegetation. Across this vast territory, there is a cultural system based on traditional communities, where a close relationship between culture and biodiversity can be observed.
The UNESCO Office in Brazil celebrates the inscription of this new Brazilian site on the World Heritage List. Paraty is already part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the field of Gastronomy and now demonstrates the richness of its local diversity by becoming a mixed World Heritage Site, recognized for both its cultural and natural heritage.
Kátia Bogéa, President of the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan), added: “We proudly return home with this title. In Paraty and Ilha Grande, an area with several ecological reserves, we see an exceptional and unique combination of natural beauty, remarkable biodiversity, cultural expressions, an extraordinary historic ensemble and important archaeological evidence that contributes to our understanding of the evolution of humanity on planet Earth.”
Criteria
To become a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the country or countries submitting the nomination must prepare a document demonstrating how the site meets one or more of the criteria established in the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention. In addition to deciding whether a site should be included on the World Heritage List, the World Heritage Committee also determines whether the site meets each of the criteria proposed in the nomination.
The criteria recognized by the Committee that led to the inscription of Paraty and Ilha Grande – Culture and Biodiversity on the World Heritage List were:
Criterion V – To be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land use or sea use that is representative of a culture (or cultures), or of human interaction with the environment, especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change.
According to the nomination, Criterion V is strongly represented within the site because, throughout different periods of Paraty’s history, human communities have lived alongside the lush landscape and made use of its natural resources, both on land and at sea, creating an interaction between culture and nature. Paraty’s traditional communities base their activities on the use of the land and sea, with artisanal fishing playing an important role, particularly among Caiçara communities and around the Historic Center. Even today, alongside modern fishing practices using motorized boats, traditional practices and tools inherited from Indigenous, African and European cultures continue to be used by local traditional communities.
Criterion X – To contain the most important and significant natural habitats for the in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including habitats containing threatened species of Outstanding Universal Value from the point of view of science or conservation.
The Mixed Heritage Site is located within one of the Atlantic Forest’s centers of endemism and represents one of the areas of greatest biological diversity in the region. The remarkable biodiversity found in this area results from historical and evolutionary factors combined with geographical characteristics that have created a unique variety of landscapes, including high mountains and significant variations in altitude. Its ecosystems extend from sea level to approximately 2,000 meters above sea level. This section of the Atlantic Forest has the greatest richness of endemic vascular plants in the area and is also home to 57% of the region’s endemic bird species, the highest percentage found among the most important bird conservation areas identified within the Atlantic Forest.
History of Paraty
Paraty is a Brazilian municipality located on the southern coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, 258 kilometers from the state capital, the city of Rio de Janeiro. Situated along the Atlantic Ocean, the municipality has an average elevation of only five meters above sea level. It currently covers an area of 930.7 square kilometers and has a population of 39,965 inhabitants, representing a population density of 35.6 inhabitants per square kilometer. According to estimates made by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in 2014, Paraty ranked 43rd among the municipalities in the state of Rio de Janeiro in terms of population.
Its Municipal Human Development Index (MHDI) is 0.693, according to 2010 data from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), published in 2013, which is considered “medium.”
The town center is located at sea level, on land between the Perequê-Açu and Mateus Nunes rivers, and was designed taking the flow of the tides into account. As a result, many streets in Paraty’s colonial Historic Center are periodically flooded by seawater.
Early European Settlement
In the 16th century, when the first Europeans arrived in the Paraty region, the area was inhabited by the Tamoios, a Tupi people. During the early years of the 16th century, the Portuguese were already familiar with the trail opened by the Guaianás, known as the Guaianás Trail, which connected the beaches of Paraty to the Paraíba Valley, beyond the Serra do Mar mountain range. The first written record of the region where Paraty is located today appears in the book by German mercenary Hans Staden, True History and Description of a Country of Savages... (Marburg, 1557), which describes his stay of almost a year in Tupinambá villages in the regions of Paraty and Angra dos Reis.
Although some authors suggest that Paraty was founded during the first half of the 16th century, when Martim Afonso de Sousa’s expedition passed through the region, the earliest known record of the settlement dates from the expedition of Martim Correia de Sá in 1597. At the time, the region was part of the Captaincy of São Vicente.
European settlement began on the hill located along the Perequê-Açu River, later known as Morro da Vila Velha and today called Morro do Forte. The first known construction was a chapel dedicated to Saint Roch, who was then the patron saint of the settlement, built on the hillside. The Guaianás settlement was located by the sea. In 1636, Maria Jácome de Melo donated a land grant in the area between the Perequê-Açu and Patitiba rivers, the latter now known as the Mateus Nunes River, for the establishment of the growing settlement. The donation was made under the conditions that the local Indigenous population would not be disturbed and that a new chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Remedies would be built. This land corresponds to the area of the city’s present-day Historic Center.
Political Emancipation
Beginning in 1664, several initiatives were organized among local residents with the aim of making the settlement independent from neighboring Angra dos Reis. This was achieved in 1670 following a revolt led by Domingos Gonçalves de Abreu, and the settlement was elevated to the status of a town. This community act was recognized by Afonso V of Portugal, who, through a Royal Charter dated February 28, 1677, ratified the decision and gave the town the name “Vila de Nossa Senhora dos Remédios de Paraty.”
The Gold Cycle and the Royal Road
With the discovery of gold in the region of Minas Gerais, Paraty gained new importance. In 1702, the governor of the Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro determined that goods could only enter the colony through the city of Rio de Janeiro and then travel to Paraty. From there, they continued toward Minas Gerais along the old Indigenous trail, which had been paved with irregular stones and became known as the Gold Trail.
The prohibition of transporting gold along the Paraty route, beginning in 1710, caused local residents to rebel. The measure was revoked but was later reinstated. This event, and especially the opening of the so-called New Road, which directly connected Rio de Janeiro to Minas Gerais, resulted in a decline in activity in the town.
From the 17th century onward, sugarcane cultivation and the production of sugarcane spirits increased. By the 18th century, the number of sugar mills had reached 250, and in 1820 there were 150 active distilleries. Production was so significant that the word “Parati” became synonymous with cachaça, an artisanal tradition that continues to this day.
The 19th Century and the Coffee Cycle
To circumvent the prohibition on the slave trade decreed by Regent Father Diogo Antônio Feijó, enslaved Africans began to be brought ashore in Paraty. The routes that had previously been used to transport gold were then used for the slave trade and to transport coffee produced in the Paraíba Valley, where coffee cultivation was expanding.
During the period of the Second Reign, an 1844 decree issued by Emperor Pedro II of Brazil elevated the former town to the status of a city. With the arrival of the railway in Barra do Piraí in 1864, agricultural production began to be transported by rail, leading Paraty into a long period of economic decline.
The Tourism Era
The city and its heritage were preserved and recognized as part of Brazil’s national heritage. Its colonial urban center and architectural complex were protected under federal cultural heritage legislation. Paraty was rediscovered as a destination in 1964, when the Paraty–Cunha road connecting the city to the state of São Paulo was reopened, helping transform Paraty into an important tourist destination. In 1958, Paraty’s historic complex had already been officially listed by the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan). Tourism increased significantly following the opening of the Rio–Santos Highway (BR-101) in 1973.
During the 1980s, Guarani M’bya Indigenous people from southern Brazil settled in the municipality, in what are now the villages of Araponga and Paratimirim.
Today, the city is the second-largest tourist destination in the state of Rio de Janeiro and the 17th in Brazil. The New York Times highlighted Paraty as one of the richest cultural destinations on the Costa Verde. Paraty was also one of the few cities that was not a state capital to receive the torch of the 2007 Pan American Games in the days leading up to the event.
The Portuguese Monarchy in Paraty
Just a few months before the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the Portuguese royal family in Brazil, Prince Dom João Henrique de Orleans e Bragança says that he still finds himself swimming against the tide when he has to defend the actions of his ancestors.
“Even today, people associate the Portuguese monarchical legacy with backwardness. I constantly have to listen to the false refrain that says that if we had been colonized by England, we would be a better country,” he said in an interview with Folha at his home in Paraty.
The anniversary, which will take place on March 7, 2008, will once again bring attention to one of the most important episodes for understanding the history of modern Brazil. It will be commemorated with celebrations, conferences, new editions of rare works from the period, and the publication of new studies.
For the great-grandson of Princess Isabel and great-great-grandson of Dom Pedro II, also known by the nickname “Dom Joãozinho,” this will be an opportunity to reconsider stereotypes and historical injustices. “Just as it made sense for the new system, the Republic, to try to dismantle the symbols of the previous system, the monarchy, today it makes sense for all of this to be reinterpreted. Time passes, the dust settles, and we begin to have a clearer view of reality,” he says.
Dom Joãozinho is one of the many descendants of the royal family that arrived in Rio de Janeiro on March 7, 1808. The transfer of the Portuguese court resulted from a long process of diplomatic negotiations between the Portuguese Crown and its main political ally, England. Weakened and threatened by Napoleon’s expansion across Europe, Portugal revived an old idea: transferring the heart of its empire to its most successful colony, Brazil.
After the proclamation of the Republic in 1889, the royal family went into exile. The descendants of Dom Pedro II only returned to Brazil after the death of Princess Isabel in 1921. Today, the Orleans e Bragança family is divided between the Petrópolis and Vassouras branches, the latter retaining the legitimate dynastic title.
Dom Joãozinho belongs to the Petrópolis branch, named after the mountain city in the state of Rio de Janeiro from which the imperial family still receives income. The Córrego Seco estate, purchased by Dom Pedro I and later granted by Dom Pedro II under an emphyteutic lease system—in which the owner grants someone the right to use a particular property in exchange for an annual payment—provides support for the family office.
“People say that we live off this money and that we are not entitled to it. But that is not true. First, because the amount we receive from it is hardly enough for anything, and second, because it is a legal contract,” he says. Since Dom Joãozinho’s father, Dom João Maria, settled in Paraty, where the prince now lives and manages an inn, people have begun referring to a Paraty “branch” of the family.
According to the prince, modesty in lifestyle and spending has always been a characteristic of the Orleans e Bragança family. “Dom Pedro II died poor in Paris and was buried with a handful of soil from Brazil. My ancestors believed they had to serve the country, not the other way around. There was never much pomp at court. Dom João VI held audiences once a week that any Brazilian could attend, whether barefoot or well dressed.”
The prince also opens his doors from time to time, although for more festive occasions, such as literary gatherings or the now-traditional annual lunch he hosts for writers invited to the Paraty International Literary Festival. In 2006, American journalist Lillian Ross, a pioneer of “New Journalism” and author of Picture, was so fascinated by him that she later wrote a profile about him for The New Yorker.
The prince says he often defends his family’s legacy by pointing to advantages “that are invisible to many people.” “We did not have to fight for our territory, cultural unity or a common language, because Dom João VI gave us those things,” he says. “When he arrived here, he had a clear vision that this would become a great, united and independent country. Never before in history had a king left his throne to set foot in a colony as he did.”
Although he sees injustices in the way the monarchy’s political legacy has been evaluated, Dom Joãozinho says he is not particularly bothered by stereotypes about members of the royal family.
For him, the fact that Dona Carlota Joaquina is portrayed as a promiscuous woman, or that Dom João VI is characterized as a buffoon, reveals something about the “Brazilian way.” “It is part of the way we joke. I don’t condemn it; it is important for our self-esteem. What we cannot allow is for our identity to be diminished. That is why reinterpretations of history and the work of intellectuals are so important,” he says.
The prince believes that historians today give Dom Pedro II a fairer assessment and praises works such as the recently published biography by historian José Murilo de Carvalho (Companhia das Letras). “The Republic was afraid of Dom Pedro II’s popularity, which is why the history written at the time portrayed him as physically frail and politically weakened,” he says. “Now there is recognition of the statesman who strengthened Brazilian institutions.”
In his own way, Dom Joãozinho says he tries to follow the example of his great-great-grandfather, traveling throughout Brazil and taking photographs. “Today, you go to São Paulo and read the names of the buildings where the elite live, and everything is ‘maison this,’ ‘jardin that’; nobody pays attention to things that are Brazilian. I think that is the greatest example Dom Pedro II left us: that we need to know and value our own culture and heritage.”
Traditional Communities
Caiçara Communities
The Caiçara are traditional communities that live along the coasts of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Their culture developed from the interaction and blending of Indigenous peoples who already inhabited the region, European settlers, and Africans brought to the Americas.
Their traditional way of life is mainly based on fishing and small-scale farming, including crops such as cassava and corn. Caiçara communities have a strong connection with nature, traditionally using only the resources necessary for their livelihood.
The traditional Caiçara canoe is built using techniques passed down through generations. It is carved from a single tree trunk by skilled Caiçara craftsmen. There are at least 40 Caiçara communities in Paraty. Their main activities include fishing, gathering food from the forest, small-scale farming, and tourism.
These communities have a long history of fighting for the right to remain in their traditional territories. This struggle intensified in 1955 with the opening of the Cunha–Paraty road, which followed an ancient Indigenous route. The road connected Caiçara communities more closely with the rest of Brazil, bringing the first tourists as well as people interested in acquiring land in the region.
In 1974, with the opening of the Rio–Santos Highway, the Caiçara struggle to remain on the lands where their ancestors had lived became even more significant. They faced growing real estate speculation while negotiating with environmental authorities over sustainable land management and their continued presence within protected areas.
Indigenous Communities
There are two Guarani M’bya villages in Paraty with lands demarcated by FUNAI: Tekoa Tatim, located in Paraty-Mirim, and Tekoa Araponga, located within Serra da Bocaina National Park. There is also a Guarani Nhandeva settlement in Rio Pequeno.
In both villages, Indigenous residents maintain their traditional “life in the forest” and way of life while also interacting with the surrounding society. They seek to preserve their cultural identity while incorporating new habits and techniques into their daily lives.
Residents traditionally grow crops, fish, hunt, and gather fruits from the forest. Their way of life follows rules and spiritual principles passed down by shamans and rooted in Guarani cosmology.
Quilombola Communities
Quilombola communities are ethnic and racial territories whose occupation and identity are based on ancestry, kinship, and their own cultural traditions.
One of these communities is Quilombo do Cabral, located in the municipality of Paraty, approximately 10 km from the Historic Center, in the second district of Paraty-Mirim. It is surrounded by other traditional communities, including Caiçara communities, Guarani Indigenous villages, and Quilombo do Campinho.
Quilombo do Campinho emerged at the end of the 19th century following the collapse of the slavery system. Today, its community members continue traditional farming and handicraft practices. The community is open to guided visits, offering visitors an opportunity to learn about the history of African descendants, their struggles and resistance, as well as their culture, art, and cuisine.
Environmental History of Paraty
Environmental history considers the relationship between the natural sciences and the social sciences. It emerged within the field of history and is based on three levels of analysis:
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understanding nature itself, including the human organism in its relationship with different ecosystems and the transformations resulting from this relationship;
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socioeconomic organization, including modes of production, material culture, technological resources, the role nature has played in shaping forms of production and, conversely, the impacts that production has had on nature;
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the cognitive, mental and cultural dimensions of human existence, including cosmologies, ideologies, values, laws, views of nature and the meanings attributed to human life (Worster, 1991). Environmental history seeks to connect socioeconomic, cultural and ecological aspects over time, examining their simultaneous and co-evolutionary development.
Environmental history presents a view of nature and culture as being in constant movement and transformation over time. It seeks to deepen our understanding of how human beings have been affected by their natural environment throughout history, how they have affected that environment, and the consequences of these interactions. It brings together knowledge from history, geography, ecology and anthropology.
Recent studies indicate that approximately 28% of the Atlantic Forest remains today. There has also been a recent increase in secondary forests. The forest has a significant capacity for regeneration, although this recovery does not occur in the same way when areas are converted into cattle pasture. Rogério Ribeiro de Oliveira conducted research on communities on Ilha Grande, studying land use by Caiçara communities over periods of 15 to 25 years and comparing these areas with untouched forest. His research showed that the forest can regenerate almost completely following periods of traditional land management. Paraty, Angra dos Reis and Mangaratiba are among the municipalities with the greatest preservation of Atlantic Forest in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
Even within dense forests, it is possible to observe evidence of past human presence. One example is a forked tree, which may indicate that it was cut in the past. Another example is the presence of fig trees, which are often among the largest trees in secondary forests. Traditionally, local communities did not cut down fig trees because of beliefs associated with biblical traditions. There is also an African cultural tradition that associates these trees with Iroko. This was not only a taboo among traditional communities but also among farmers and settlers of Portuguese origin.
In Paraty, it is possible to observe green areas that are not original forests but rather the result of forest regeneration after farmland and pastures were abandoned. “Most forested areas contain traces such as house foundations, fragments of charcoal in the soil, exotic species or plants that escaped cultivation, helping to explain the occurrence of extensive areas of secondary forest” (Oliveira, 2011).
As a commercial town, Paraty saw its prosperity affected by a simple change in transportation routes, when the Old Gold Trail lost importance to the New Road, which led directly to Rio de Janeiro. The region’s geography did not favor large-scale monocultures. In 1794, Monsignor Pizarro described Paraty as follows:
“The territory and boundaries of Paraty, which include the remarkable plains of Bananal, Paraty-Mirim and Mambucaba, (...) are quite fertile in vegetables and fruits similar to those of Europe, such as plums, and produce sufficient cassava, corn, rice, legumes, coffee and sugarcane. Sugarcane is cultivated with greater intensity to supply the 12 sugar mills that currently exist, as well as 100 or more distilleries producing aguardente, known as Engenhocas. (...) sugar production amounts to (...) 1,500 arrobas, while aguardente production is increasing considerably.” [Adapted from the original text, which uses historical spelling.]
Agricultural production was diverse. Paraty’s cachaça was considered to be of very high quality because the sugarcane grown in the region had a higher moisture content, making it particularly suitable for producing the spirit. Paraty’s cachaça became famous in Angola in connection with the slave trade.
During the 19th century, coffee cultivation expanded throughout the Paraíba Valley, although Paraty’s climate was not as favorable for coffee production. In 1831, the first law prohibiting the transatlantic slave trade was enacted. Following the closure of Valongo Wharf in Rio de Janeiro, slave trader Souza Breves, who owned farms in southern Rio de Janeiro state, became a leading figure in the region’s now-illegal slave trade. Santa Rita do Bracuí was one of the locations used to receive enslaved Africans.
There was an enormous variation in altitude, reaching approximately 1,690 meters along the route from Angra dos Reis toward Minas Gerais through São José do Barreiro and Mambucaba. Sections of stone paving built by enslaved people can still be found today. Exotic plant species are also found along the route, providing evidence that small settlements once existed along the crossing.
In 1850, the prohibition of the international slave trade was reinforced at the same time that the Dom Pedro II railway was being built, connecting the Paraíba Valley to Rio de Janeiro. This marked a period of significant decline in the region, and many farms were abandoned.
However, 1850 also saw the approval of Brazil’s Land Law, which restricted access to land for squatters and formerly enslaved people, establishing that land ownership would generally depend on purchase or inheritance. As José de Souza Martins stated: “The country invented a simple formula for coercing free labor: if the land were free, labor would have to be enslaved; if labor were free, the land would have to be enslaved.”
In Paraty, some communities managed to remain on the land and make their living from it. Because large areas of the region had little commercial value at the time, local residents were able to occupy land where there was little competition for ownership. In several cases, squatters and formerly enslaved people gained access to land and established communities that today are known as traditional communities. In Martim de Sá, for example, there are abandoned former farms that have since been reclaimed by the Atlantic Forest.
The landscape we see today, rich in biodiversity and remarkably well preserved, is the result of all these historical processes, but especially of the relationship these communities have maintained with their territory.
It is important to challenge the idea that traditional populations do not modify their environment, as though they existed outside historical processes. In reality, these communities helped shape the landscapes that today have acquired new meanings and economic value through tourism—a form of tourism that often focuses on “natural beauty” while overlooking the cultures and communities that helped ensure the preservation of this environment.
História Documental de Paraty
A história se escreve a partir de registros documentais, arqueológicos, iconográficos (e fotográficos) ou testemunhos orais, que costumamos chamar fontes. As fontes não contam a história sozinhas. Elas precisam ser interpretadas por pesquisadores, comparadas entre si e inseridas no contexto histórico de sua época, dado por outro conjunto de fontes e interpretações.
A maioria dos registros escritos da época colonial e imperial são documentos oficiais, emitidos por instituições ou pessoas em posições de poder. Por isso é muito difícil encontrar registros escritos que contemplem a realidade das classes trabalhadoras, da cultura popular, dos indígenas ou dos quilombolas, por exemplo. A aproximação à materialidade da história se dá de forma indireta, com interpretação e até um bocado de especulação. Mas também com responsabilidade e verossimilhança.
Pela cidade é conhecida a história de que Igreja do Rosário foi construída por negros libertos. Mas não há pesquisa sobre quem eram essas pessoas e se a igreja era para eles mesmos. Faltam pesquisa e interpretação sobre as versões não hegemônicas da história.
Nas restaurações do casario do Centro Histórico descobriu-‐se que as paredes das casas do século XIX do centro histórico eram coloridas. Quando o IPHAN tombou o conjunto arquitetônico, estabeleceu que o modelo colonial seria branco, então se aplicou um modelo colonial a um conjunto que seria, na verdade, imperial. Se seguisse a metodologia de respeitar as camadas temporais do casario, as casas teriam paredes coloridas hoje e poderia ser um conjunto mais interessante.
Pra comentar a importância da análise documental para uma escrita histórica de Paraty, seguem alguns exemplos documentais e alguns caminhos de pesquisa e hipóteses que eles apontam. Comecemos com um texto de Jozé de Souza Azevedo Pizarro e Araújo, chamado "Memórias históricas do Rio de Janeiro e das províncias anexas", publicado em 1820. Ele descreve o morro além do Paratii-Guaçú, a Igreja de São Roque. Não sobraram ruínas desse período. Hoje é o chamado Morro do Forte, que abriga o Museu do Forte Defensor Perpétuo.
O território de Paratii foi ocupado pelos portugueses, logo que se estendeu a Capitania de São Vicente, com a cultura [de cana-‐de-‐açúcar] das terras ao Norte de sua costa. No morro além do Paratii-‐Guaçú, e distante dele mais ou menos 25 braças [cerca de 60 metros] para o Norte, assentaram vivenda os novos povoadores, erigindo um templo sob a tutela de São Roque, a quem dedicaram a infante povoação pelos anos de 1600 e tantos. Sendo hoje desconhecida a era desses acontecimentos, a tradição a refere muito longa à memória dos homens, existindo apenas alguns sinais de edifícios levantados no lugar, que chamam Vila Velha.
Nesse período de "1600 e tantos", podemos encontrar outros dois documentos cuja interpretação nos permite compreender um pouco das relações de poder naquela época.
Há um trecho da carta de doação de Sesmaria a D. Maria Jacome de Melo, que data de 1636 (Roteiro Documental do Acervo Público de Paraty, 2011). A carta fala da doação do seu pai, que acreditam ter sido um dos que fundaram o povoado inicial. Falam de uma capitania que chamam de Paraty-‐Guaçu, onde estiveram os “índios Goramenis”. A carta dá a entender que a filha deveria preservar o direito dos índios de permanecerem em suas terras.
A primeira vez que a palavra Paratii aparece na literatura se deve ao Anthony Knivet, viajante inglês, que cita os Guaianás.
O livro do Marcos Ribas sobre o Caminho do Ouro lista e comenta documentos, inclusive sobre os Goramenis. Acredita-‐se que sejam os mesmos índios, Goramenis, Goaromimin, Guaianás. Existem poucos estudos sobre esses indígenas. Mas estudos recentes têm mostrado que a escravidão indígena foi bem mais significativa do que se costuma dizer, e que o número de escravos indígenas só foi ultrapassado pelos negros ao longo do século XVIII (ver os estudos de Carlos Alberto Zeron, da USP), e isso fortalece a nossa tese de que os Miramomis ou Guaianás de Paraty tenham sido escravizados.
A interpretação dos documentos nos permite elaborar hipóteses sobre o passado, que demandariam maiores estudos para se confirmar. Seriam os Goaromimins ou Goramenis ou Maromomis os ancestrais dos caiçaras? Alguns dos costumes descritos parecem apontar pra essa possibilidade.
Outro caso é a questão da escravidão negra. Salvador Correia de Sá e Benevides (1594-1681) foi um dos homens mais poderosos do Império Português em seu tempo. Descendente dos fundadores da cidade do Rio de Janeiro, Mem de Sá e Estácio de Sá, foi governador da capitania do Rio de Janeiro três vezes. Em 1648, retomou Angola e outras praças africanas dos holandeses que as haviam invadido. Com isso, tomou o controle das principais rotas de captura, venda e transporte de escravos entre a África e a América Portuguesa. Numa carta de 1660 ele manda abrir os caminhos de Paraty para São Paulo e Minas Gerais, que virariam depois o chamado Caminho do Ouro.
Como convém ao serviço de Sua Majestade, mandamos descobrir e abrir os caminhos da Vila de Parati para as demais do Sertão e do Caminho de São Paulo, e assim passar aquela vila a estabelecer as minas de seu distrito. Encarrego esta execução ao Capitão e Ouvidor Feliciano Coelho. (Salvador Correia de Sá e Benevides, Alcaide Mor da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro, Governador das Capitanias do Sul do Estado do Brasil, 1660).
É mais provável que a abertura deste caminho estivesse relacionada a rotas de comércio de escravos de Angola do que às minas, que não haviam sido ainda descobertas.
Em 1698, finalmente foram descobertas jazidas de ouro e pedras preciosas no vale do Rio da Velha, nas proximidades de Vila Rica, atual Ouro Preto. O caminho que sai das minas e atravessa a Serra do Mar, chegando em Paraty e seguindo por mar até o Rio de Janeiro se torna o mais viável para o escoamento dos metais preciosos. Uma carta régia de 1703 ordena que se construa uma “trincheira de estacas com uma fortificação para a defesa do portão na Vila de Paraty, para se impedir a quem for para as Minas sem licença, e para registrar as cargas de ouro que se traz e se leva, e assim não descaminhar coisa alguma” (Biblioteca Nacional, Cadernos do Conselho Ultramarino). Muitos atribuem a fundação do Forte Defensor Perpétuo a esta carta, mas é provável que essas pessoas não a tenham lido, já que o Forte não fica no “portão da Vila”, e que outros documentos parecem apontar que tenha sido construído só em 1822.
Em 1710, o Caminho Velho de Paraty é abandonado como rota oficial, e passa a vigorar o escoamento através do Caminho Novo.
Os tambores de Candombe Mineiro do acervo do Forte Defensor Perpétuo datam provavelmente de fins do século XVIII ou início do XIX, e foram encontrados numa fazenda de Paraty Mirim. São um testemunho importante da presença de manifestações afrodescendentes em Paraty nos tempos coloniais e imperiais, e do intercâmbio cultural entre os negros escravizados das minas e os do litoral.
É sabido que uma das principais moedas de troca para a aquisição de escravos no litoral brasileiro era a cachaça. Os escravos que eram trazidos de Angola eram aqui trocados por cachaça, que voltava à África, enquanto escravos eram vendidos para outros portos do Brasil e da América Espanhola. A produção de cachaça tem protagonismo em Paraty ao menos desde o início do século XVIII, e atinge seu auge no início do século XIX, onde foram registrados mais de 200 alambiques na Vila. Ao que tudo indica, há um ciclo comercial que acompanha os ciclos produtivos de cana-‐de-‐ açúcar, do ouro e do café, que é o ciclo do comércio e tráfico de escravos africanos.
Ao longo do século XVIII, a Vila de Paraty teve um pico de florescimento comercial nos anos de 1720, quando as igrejas de Santa Rita e do Rosário foram construídas. Esta última está relacionada justamente à devoção dos negros escravizados. Alguns indícios ainda pouco explorados indicam a presença de um catolicismo negro em Paraty, nos moldes das manifestações típicas de Minas Gerais, como o Candombe Mineiro e as Congadas. No século XIX, documentos comprovam que as Congadas eram festejadas na cidade.
A interpretação é algo subjetivo. Por mais que se esforce para construir uma narrativa que faça sentido, diferentes pesquisadores sempre poderão discordar sobre a interpretação das fontes. Por isso não há nenhuma história que seja definitiva, e nenhuma interpretação histórica que escape aos dados disponíveis e à cultura do próprio tempo de quem a escreveu. O que não quer dizer que se possa dizer qualquer coisa, é preciso que o pesquisador apresente uma narrativa que faça sentido para que ela seja aceita.
É muito importante que o ensino de história leve em conta o caráter interpretativo e não definitivo das narrativas históricas, mesmo no ciclo fundamental. O exercício de se contar uma história deve ser tão importante quando aquele de ouvir e apreender uma história na educação. A história de Paraty é particularmente pouco pesquisada, cheia de lacunas documentais e erros simples de interpretação. Cabe aos futuros pesquisadores, estudantes e professores de hoje escrever essa história e aprimorá-‐la, com responsabilidade e considerando a diversidade dos saberes, mas sem incorrer em relativismos que procuram apagar fatos determinantes da nossa história deliberadamente, segundo os interesses de grupos econômicos e políticos.
Environmental History of Paraty
Environmental history considers the relationship between the natural sciences and the social sciences. It emerged within the field of history and is based on three levels of analysis:
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understanding nature itself, including the human organism in its relationship with different ecosystems and the transformations resulting from this relationship;
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socioeconomic organization, including modes of production, material culture, technological resources, the role nature has played in shaping forms of production and, conversely, the impacts that production has had on nature;
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the cognitive, mental and cultural dimensions of human existence, including cosmologies, ideologies, values, laws, views of nature and the meanings attributed to human life (Worster, 1991). Environmental history seeks to connect socioeconomic, cultural and ecological aspects over time, examining their simultaneous and co-evolutionary development.
Environmental history presents a view of nature and culture as being in constant movement and transformation over time. It seeks to deepen our understanding of how human beings have been affected by their natural environment throughout history, how they have affected that environment, and the consequences of these interactions. It brings together knowledge from history, geography, ecology and anthropology.
Recent studies indicate that approximately 28% of the Atlantic Forest remains today. There has also been a recent increase in secondary forests. The forest has a significant capacity for regeneration, although this recovery does not occur in the same way when areas are converted into cattle pasture. Rogério Ribeiro de Oliveira conducted research on communities on Ilha Grande, studying land use by Caiçara communities over periods of 15 to 25 years and comparing these areas with untouched forest. His research showed that the forest can regenerate almost completely following periods of traditional land management. Paraty, Angra dos Reis and Mangaratiba are among the municipalities with the greatest preservation of Atlantic Forest in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
Even within dense forests, it is possible to observe evidence of past human presence. One example is a forked tree, which may indicate that it was cut in the past. Another example is the presence of fig trees, which are often among the largest trees in secondary forests. Traditionally, local communities did not cut down fig trees because of beliefs associated with biblical traditions. There is also an African cultural tradition that associates these trees with Iroko. This was not only a taboo among traditional communities but also among farmers and settlers of Portuguese origin.
In Paraty, it is possible to observe green areas that are not original forests but rather the result of forest regeneration after farmland and pastures were abandoned. “Most forested areas contain traces such as house foundations, fragments of charcoal in the soil, exotic species or plants that escaped cultivation, helping to explain the occurrence of extensive areas of secondary forest” (Oliveira, 2011).
As a commercial town, Paraty saw its prosperity affected by a simple change in transportation routes, when the Old Gold Trail lost importance to the New Road, which led directly to Rio de Janeiro. The region’s geography did not favor large-scale monocultures. In 1794, Monsignor Pizarro described Paraty as follows:
“The territory and boundaries of Paraty, which include the remarkable plains of Bananal, Paraty-Mirim and Mambucaba, (...) are quite fertile in vegetables and fruits similar to those of Europe, such as plums, and produce sufficient cassava, corn, rice, legumes, coffee and sugarcane. Sugarcane is cultivated with greater intensity to supply the 12 sugar mills that currently exist, as well as 100 or more distilleries producing aguardente, known as Engenhocas. (...) sugar production amounts to (...) 1,500 arrobas, while aguardente production is increasing considerably.” [Adapted from the original text, which uses historical spelling.]
Agricultural production was diverse. Paraty’s cachaça was considered to be of very high quality because the sugarcane grown in the region had a higher moisture content, making it particularly suitable for producing the spirit. Paraty’s cachaça became famous in Angola in connection with the slave trade.
During the 19th century, coffee cultivation expanded throughout the Paraíba Valley, although Paraty’s climate was not as favorable for coffee production. In 1831, the first law prohibiting the transatlantic slave trade was enacted. Following the closure of Valongo Wharf in Rio de Janeiro, slave trader Souza Breves, who owned farms in southern Rio de Janeiro state, became a leading figure in the region’s now-illegal slave trade. Santa Rita do Bracuí was one of the locations used to receive enslaved Africans.
There was an enormous variation in altitude, reaching approximately 1,690 meters along the route from Angra dos Reis toward Minas Gerais through São José do Barreiro and Mambucaba. Sections of stone paving built by enslaved people can still be found today. Exotic plant species are also found along the route, providing evidence that small settlements once existed along the crossing.
In 1850, the prohibition of the international slave trade was reinforced at the same time that the Dom Pedro II railway was being built, connecting the Paraíba Valley to Rio de Janeiro. This marked a period of significant decline in the region, and many farms were abandoned.
However, 1850 also saw the approval of Brazil’s Land Law, which restricted access to land for squatters and formerly enslaved people, establishing that land ownership would generally depend on purchase or inheritance. As José de Souza Martins stated: “The country invented a simple formula for coercing free labor: if the land were free, labor would have to be enslaved; if labor were free, the land would have to be enslaved.”
In Paraty, some communities managed to remain on the land and make their living from it. Because large areas of the region had little commercial value at the time, local residents were able to occupy land where there was little competition for ownership. In several cases, squatters and formerly enslaved people gained access to land and established communities that today are known as traditional communities. In Martim de Sá, for example, there are abandoned former farms that have since been reclaimed by the Atlantic Forest.
The landscape we see today, rich in biodiversity and remarkably well preserved, is the result of all these historical processes, but especially of the relationship these communities have maintained with their territory.
It is important to challenge the idea that traditional populations do not modify their environment, as though they existed outside historical processes. In reality, these communities helped shape the landscapes that today have acquired new meanings and economic value through tourism—a form of tourism that often focuses on “natural beauty” while overlooking the cultures and communities that helped ensure the preservation of this environment.
The Quilombola Version of Paraty’s History
One of the greatest acts of violence committed by colonizers against Quilombola people was the erasure of their history. The history of the quilombos is what binds their communities together. The Guarani people endured 500 years of violence and persecution, yet they preserved their history and their language. We have not been able to tell the ancient history of the quilombos, of freed Black people, or of the role Black people played in society. For example, the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary of the Black People in Paraty was built in the 18th century for enslaved Black people, who also helped build it. Who were they? How did they build it? We do not have documents or records because history was told by the oppressor.
The enslavement of Indigenous people must also be studied. In 1537, a papal bull declared that Indigenous people had souls. Black people, however, were treated as commodities to be sold and enslaved. Slavery in Brazil was among the most extensive and intense systems of slavery.
This was especially true after its prohibition in 1831. Once the trade was prohibited, trafficking increased dramatically. It intensified until 1850, when repression of the slave trade became stronger following the Eusébio de Queirós Law. The region between Paraty and the Marambaia sandbank was a well-known entry point for the illegal trafficking of enslaved people until 1850. In 1878, one out of every four people in Brazil was Black.
Recognizing as quilombos only those communities formed by people who escaped slavery is a narrative that excludes the many other processes through which quilombos were created. Quilombos established by people fleeing slavery were persecuted, and their inhabitants were either recaptured or killed. We Quilombolas have always been questioned because people say we were not from here, there, or anywhere else, just as the Guarani are also questioned. But the question is: how could people who were fleeing settle permanently in one place? Those who escaped were constantly on the move and therefore left few records of their presence. The telling of history is also a battleground. Today in Brazil, we see a dispute between different historical narratives.
The Quilombo of Palmares was destroyed through the actions of the bandeirantes. Over the course of 100 years, it had grown to approximately 40,000 inhabitants in Serra da Barriga, Alagoas. There are two versions of what happened. One says that Palmares was completely destroyed. But imagine 40,000 people being killed—it would be extremely difficult to kill that many people in a single expedition. The other narrative says that the people escaped and dispersed. Either you kill every ant, or one anthill becomes ten. That is the narrative I choose to hold on to.
Not all quilombos emerged in the same way. Chico Rei hid precious stones in his hair. He accumulated them, sold them, and purchased his own freedom and that of others, forming a free community. Others gained their freedom because they fought in wars, provided religious services, or received their freedom through the gratitude of landowners. In other words, there were many different paths.
Of the estimated 6,000 Quilombola communities that exist in Brazil today, the vast majority have histories like these and were formed through processes that did not necessarily originate in conflict and escape. One example is the Quilombo of Santa Rita do Bracuí, in Angra dos Reis, which was not formed through conflict and escape but through the inheritance of land from former slaveholders.
At archaeological sites, one indication of the presence of Black communities was the pilão, a traditional wooden mortar. The pilão was like the “television” of Black people at the time: families and friends would gather around it to talk. The Museum of Forte Defensor Perpétuo in Paraty has examples of pilões found in Paraty-Mirim.
Until 1850, people were enslaved while land was free. From that point onward, people were freed while the land became enslaved. This is the capitalist model that transforms land—which traditional peoples regard as a common good—into a “thing.” I saw my grandfather give someone a small piece of his land as casually as someone gives a flower. I, already influenced by another way of thinking, did not like it. But he was not giving it away. He was sharing a common resource. The system makes us think according to a different worldview, and these are the narratives that are still being contested.
In 1850, Black people were once again excluded through the Land Law because they did not have the money to purchase land. In 1888, following the Golden Law (Lei Áurea), the mass of formerly enslaved people was left without support. In 1889, with the Proclamation of the Republic, Black history in Brazil was erased and a project of “whitening” society began, alongside the incarceration of the Black population and the criminalization of cultural practices such as Candomblé, capoeira and samba. All of these became criminalized. Brazil’s prison system is not predominantly Black by accident. Vagrancy laws allowed people without proof of employment to be arrested—in other words, formerly enslaved people. Formerly enslaved people were also arrested for practicing elements of their own culture.
Immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries brought people from a devastated Europe to Brazil, where the country’s elite believed the population needed to be “whitened.” The Republic used immigration as a mechanism for whitening the population, which at the time was predominantly Black. During the first 100 years of the Republic, quilombos received no official recognition. There was widespread abandonment.
Over time, neighboring communities began to be recognized, including the Black family community of Rio dos Meros, followed by Cabral, Pedreira and later Campinho. A large Black corridor had developed even before the construction of the Rio–Santos Highway. It was known as Sertão da Independência and continued toward Ubatuba, through areas such as Fazenda and Itamambuca, and beyond. Their main relationships were with Caiçara communities, who referred to them as the beira-mar, or “people of the seashore.” There was also an extensive corridor of these coastal communities.
However, these corridors are disappearing. The community has held official Quilombola land title since March 21, 2019. It is one of three communities in Brazil that served as case studies during the 1980s to demonstrate that these historically overlooked communities needed to be officially recognized. Other cases studied included communities displaced by the Alcântara military base and the Kalunga community in Goiás, affected by the construction of a hydroelectric power plant, whose territory is approximately the size of 1,000 Campinhos. These cases helped lead to the creation of mechanisms for recognizing Quilombola communities.
This process culminated in Article 68, which is not part of the main body of the Constitution but appears in the Transitional Constitutional Provisions Act (ADCT), an annex to the Constitution. At the time, it was believed that there were very few such communities in Brazil. It was assumed that the provision would only be needed for a short period until the issue was resolved. But it has remained in place for decades, and we continue fighting for its implementation.
In the state of Rio de Janeiro, 48 Quilombola communities have been identified. Campos dos Goytacazes has the largest concentration, followed by Cabo Frio. Three communities have received land titles: Campinho da Independência, in Paraty (1999); Preto Forro, in Cabo Frio (2012); and Ilha da Marambaia, in Mangaratiba (2015), where a military training center is located.
We are part of the Association of Remaining Quilombo Communities of the State of Rio de Janeiro (ARQUILERJ), our main representative organization, which works together with the National Coordination for the Articulation of Rural Black Quilombola Communities (CONAQ).
escravizados ficou ao léu. Em 1889, com a Proclamação da República, houve o apagamento da história negra do Brasil e iniciou-‐se o projeto de embranquecimento, o encarceramento da população negra e a criminalização dos seus costumes, como o candomblé, a capoeira, o samba, tudo isso virou crime. O sistema carcerário brasileiro não é preto à toa. A lei da vadiagem prendia quem não estivesse com a carteira de trabalho. Ou seja, o ex-escravo. E prendia os ex-escravos também por cultivarem os elementos de sua própria cultura.
A imigração no final do século XIX e início do século XX se deu com as pessoas saindo de uma Europa destroçada e vindo para o Brasil, cuja elite achava que era preciso embranquecer. A República usou a imigração como um mecanismo de embranquecimento, já que a população era de maioria negra. E em 100 anos da República não houve o reconhecimento dos quilombos. Um abandono muito grande.
Foram percebendo comunidades próximas, como a família negra do Rio dos Meros, depois as do Cabral, as da Pedreira e depois o Campinho. Existe um grande corredor negro que se constituiu, ainda sem a rodovia Rio-‐Santos. Era o Sertão da Independência, que depois tinha sequência em Ubatuba, onde é Fazenda, Itamambuca, e daí por diante. As principais relações eram com os caiçaras, que os chamava de “os beira-mar”. Havia também um grande corredor dos “beira-mar”.
Porém estes corredores estão desaparecendo. A comunidade tem o título quilombola desde 21 de março de 2019. São uma das 3 comunidades do Brasil que serviram de estudo de caso nos anos 1980 para provar que esse povo esquecido deveria ser reconhecido. Também estudaram os expulsos da Base de Alcântara e a comunidade dos Calungas, em Goiás, expulsos pela construção de uma hidrelétrica, que tem o tamanho de 1.000 Campinhos. Só a partir desses casos é que se criaram mecanismos de reconhecimento dessas comunidades.
Isso culminou no art. 68, que não está na Constituição, mas nos Atos das Disposições Constitucionais Transitórias (ADCT), que é um anexo da Constituição, pois achavam que só haviam muito poucas comunidades no Brasil. Achavam que a lei teria curta duração e depois se resolveria o problema. Mas está aí há 30 anos e continuamos lutando por ela.
No estado do Rio de Janeiro são 48 comunidades quilombolas identificadas. Em Campos dos Goytacazes está a maior concentração, depois Cabo Frio. Três são tituladas, Campinho da Independência, em Paraty (1999), Preto Forro, em Cabo Frio (2012) e Ilha da Marambaia (2015), em Mangaratiba, onde fica o Centro de Adestramento Militar. Fazemos parte da Associação dos Remanescentes de Quilombos do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (ARQUILERJ), nossa associação mais representativa, que se articula com a Coordenação Nacional de Articulação das Comunidades Negras Rurais Quilombolas (CONAQ).
