| BEGINNING OF COLONIZATION |
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| It was in 1502 during the second expedition to Brazil that the region of Ilha Grande Bay was discovered. |
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| The colonization of Brazilian lands occurred through the "sesmarias" where the owner received a portion of land and was obliged to settle it for five years period under the penalty of losing it. In case of Paraty and Angra dos Reis, the sesmarias were delivered to the colonists from Capitania São Vicente. The first sesmaria of the region was setlled in 1560 in a place from the district of Angra dos Reis. In 1593,it was given in the surroundings of Paraty-Mirim river the first sesmaria in Paraty. |
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| However, it is believed that before the sesmaria´s donations, it had already been started the colonization process of Paraty. In 1563, the priest Anchieta visited twice or more time the Iperoig Indian settlement (Ubatuba) and Araribá (Angra dos Reis), trying to make a peace treaty between Portugueses and Tamoios Indians (or tupinambás). Cunhambebe,cacique from the Araribóia settlement and leader of Confederação dos Tamoios, ordered the construction, for priest Anchieta, in the deepest of Saco Mamanguá at the margin of Iriró river, a "big house of saying masses and stay overnight" as greatfulness for the priest have saved the Indians affected by variola. Nearest to this place, there is a peak named Cairuçu that is derived from ocaiçuru and means in tupi language oca=house and uçu=big. However, due to the unsuccessful peace treaty, in 1565 the priest Anchieta visited once more Paraty, stayed overnight at the Pouso beach and followed up the war expedition to combat the Tamoios in Uruçumirim (the real district of Glória at Rio de Janeiro city). |
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| In 1573, the European mercenaries through the order of the Governor Antônio de Salema, make an expedition from Cabo Frio to Paraty,enslavering or exterminating Tamoios Indians who managed to escape from the Uruçumirim battle. |
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| The other reason that makes you believe that the Paraty colonization began before the "sesmarias" donation is that in 1596, the Governor of Rio de Janeiro sent an expedition ordered by his son - Martim Correa de Sá - with "seven hundred Portugueses and two thousand indians" in search of metal and Tamoios Indians, using the track made by the "guaianases", nearby the "port named of Paratec", and this place had already been known as standstill of vessels. Martim Correa de Sá waited in Paraty (maybe in Paraty-Mirim or Mamanguá) the arrival of an Indian called Aleixo coming from Ubatuba leading 80 Indians (Flexeiros). |
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| Some historians defended that the colonizer expedition of Martim Afonso was in Paraty in 16th of August of 1532, beginning portuguese colonization in the place. However, tin this time and region was dominated by the Tamoios Indians, enemies of the Portugueses that would hardly allow their permanence in these lands. |
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| By geographical reasons, it would be easy to foreseen that Paraty would be quickly settled: its bay formed a natural port; it had fresh water with abundance; the plain was good for agriculture, and was located in the intermediary point between the Santos' and Rio de Janeiro's port.On the other hand, the coast plain limited by the sea and mountain would never allow that the village had a big agrarian activity, generator of a solid and urban economy. |
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| In 1630, Maria Jácome de Melo received a "sesmaria" of a league and a half along the coast, having the river Perequê-Açu in the middle. Meeting the requirement of the donatary João Pimenta de Carvalho who arrived at Paraty in 16th of August (Saint Roque´s Day) of this year, built in the top of the "Morro do Forte", a chapel dedicated to Saint Roque. The initial occupation of the city occurred around this chapel,located at the "Morro do Forte" where it could foreseen the arrival of enemy vessels. |
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| In order to value her lands,Maria Jácome de Melo donates in 1646 an area next to the sea and between the rivers Perequê-Açu and Patitiba - a very floated area and without any possibility of cultivation - so that the village could be settled with the condition that they build a church in praise of the saint of her devotion: Nossa Senhora dos Remédios. |
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| With the donation made by Maria Jácome de Melo was possible to plan adequately the city development. In 1646, it was built next the river Perequê-Açu the first main church of the city made by wattle and daub-house" and "sapê" and thus the village developed a lot around it. In 1650, there was in the village more than 800 inhabitants without taking in account the natives. In 1668, this church was demolished in order to be built instead of it another one made by stone and white wash. |
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| Paraty belonged to the district of Angra dos Reis up to 28th of February of 1667, when the king D. Afonso VI, considering the development and economical superiority of Paraty, changed the city status from village to small city with the pompous name of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios de Paraty Village. This is the official aniversary date despite the village had been already founded for years. Th population of the village was approximately of 3000 inhabitants. |
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| In the period before the Cycle of Gold, the economy of Brazil was based in the sugar exportation. Paraty lived mainly of the sugar cane and manioc culture in order to produce sugar,"cachaça" and flour. The track of the "Serra do Falcão" or Guaianá was the one used to trade the agricultural products among the villages of the "Vale do Paraíba", besides of being the faster connection between the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, through a terrestrial and marine pathway (from Rio to Paraty took four or five days by sea and from Paraty to São Paulo by land in ten or fifteen days). The port of the city received African slaves destined to the agriculture of São Paulo. |
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| In the winter months, the Indians went down the mountain in search of fishery, because they knew that the fish "parati" , from March to September, went up the rivers for spawning, becoming an easy capture . Therefore, the Indians called this region of parati (parati = fish specimen from the family Mugil, i=river or water). The Jesuits, Indian catechizers, the first ones to study languages, used to substitute the "y" for double "i" , so the name became Paraty city. However, in 1943 when there was an ortography reform which eliminated among others, the "y" of the vocabulary, The "Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE)" decided to write the name of the city with"i", though in the Official Orthographic Vocabulary, The Brazilian Academy of Letters considers that "the names of cities of historical and secular tradition do not suffer any alteration in its writing", as example of what occurs with Bahia. Despite of the writing "Parati" is acceptable, the correct is the writing "Paraty". |
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