The Jungle
This text was originally written by the coordinator of the respective volume for the print edition as an introduction to the geographic area in question; the possibility of updating it was left to each author’s discretion. It should be interpreted together with the general introductory text from the respective volume.
THE JUNGLE and the river are the two main geographical features of Amazonia. Throughout practically the whole of the 16th century, the territory was regarded as a region steeped in mythology, full of expressive symbolic representations, ranging from the mythical female warriors who gave their name to the river to the El Dorado that people dreamed of finding there. Although there was no direct and continuous correspondence to be noted in terms of the region's occupation, it is important to remember that the great River Amazon was immediately "appropriated” by Portuguese cartographers, who made it an integral part of the Portuguese share of the world when it was divided into two. Thereafter, it was seen as a means for penetrating further inland, with the Portuguese imagining that the river would perhaps lead them to the gold that was to be found in the Andes.
The effective occupation of the region only began in the early 17th century, with the foundation of the two main urban centres: São Luís and Belém (1615-1616). The foundation of São Luís implied the withdrawal of the French from the Maranhão region and the consolidation of the defence of the Atlantic coast. However, in the first half of the 17th century the city was again occupied by the Dutch. Belém, built on the mouth of one of the arms of the Amazon delta, was clearly founded to serve as a centre for subsequent penetration upriver. Throughout the colonisation process, the two main urban centres maintained a relationship of relative antagonism because of the evident polarisation between them. They both claimed the right to serve as the centre of the region, yet in fact not only was the region isolated from the rest of Brazil, but it was also difficult to establish a direct link between the two cities.
In effect, the difficulties in communicating with Salvador by sea, coupled with the geographical features of the region, resulted in the creation, in 1621, of a specific administrative territory: the State of Maranhão and Grão-Pará, which was managed directly from the metropolis. After the Restoration of Portugal from Spanish rule, King João IV put an end to the State in 1652, in response to the demands of the local militia commanders in Pará, who did not wish to submit to the jurisdiction of the governors in São Luís, and who claimed that its great distance from the capital made the management of the captaincy of Pará an extremely difficult affair. However, this measure did not have the desired effects and King João IV reinstituted the State in 1654, just as it had been in 1621. This administrative structure lasted until the second half of the 18th century. In 1751, with the installation of Francisco Xavier de Mendonça Furtado as the state governor and boundary commissioner, the captaincy of Grão-Pará was granted the greater autonomy that it had already been demanding for quite some time. Belém then became the capital of the State, which changed its name to Grão-Pará and Maranhão. In 1772, this separate government was abolished and the region was duly incorporated into the State of Brazil.
This different administrative situation also corresponded to a specific context of occupation that is inevitably reflected in the region's heritage. Throughout the 17th century and continuing into the first half of the 18th century, few urban centres were established and those that were built were created relatively close to São Luís and Belém. Among these were the towns of Alcântara (ma), Icatu (ma), Vigia (pa) and Cametá (pa). The town of Alcântara is the one that has succeeded in preserving most features from the colonial period, displaying one of the rare pillories from colonial Brazil in front of its town hall in the main square.
Inland, deep within the Amazon jungle, the colonising process was carried out by missionaries. Jesuits, Franciscans, Carmelites and Mercedarians, who spread along the banks of the river and its tributaries, were distributed in separate and pre-ordained areas of influence, spearheading the colonisation process. The great distances and the latent conflicts between all of the different social groups (colonisers, missionaries and Indians) were the features that marked the whole of the first century of the region's occupation, resulting in an atmosphere of insecurity and violence, exacerbated not only by the weak economy, which was mostly based on the extraction of the so-called "hinterland drugs" but also by the difficulties in dealing with some of the region's specific characteristics, above all the climatic factors and their accompanying health problems. Poverty was widespread and epidemics were constant, decimating the population on a seasonal basis. Consequently, to some extent, there continued to be a stigma associated with the difficulties of life in the "jungle" which, in the eyes of the coloniser, acted as a kind of internal limit imposed on his own presence there.
Fortifications were naturally the first infrastructures to be built. In São Luís (ma), as Rafael Moreira so neatly puts it, nowadays "nothing is now visible of what was once the cradle of the city'! Indeed, not much remains from the city's initial system of fortification. Somewhat camouflaged by building works and subsequent inappropriate uses, there nonetheless still remain both the Fortress of Santo António da Barra, with a circular shape similar to that of the Fort of Bugio in Lisbon, and the Fortress of São Francisco. The Government Palace was built on the site of the original Fort of São Luís, which had been seized from the French. Ironically, the regulations bequeathed by Alexandre de Moura to Jerónimo de Albuquerque stipulated that the Captain-General of the State of Maranhão should "never live inside the forts, unless compelled to do so by the presence of enemies, whenever their assistance might seem necessary'! These regulations represent a unique document in Portuguese colonial urbanism, since they clearly mention the layout of the city's streets, as designed by the chief engineer of the realm, Francisco Frias de Mesquita, which the Captain-General was instructed to follow. The city was certainly "well equipped with straight streets', as the document stated.
In Belém (pa), the Fort of Presépio was the first sign of the occupation and literally became the nucleus from which the urban centre developed. It has recently been restored, resulting in the full recovery of its most significant surviving features. The defence of the city was completed with the Fortress of Barra, another circular fortification built in the river, which was demolished in the 20th century, and the small fort (bastion) of São Pedro Nolasco in front of the Convent of Mercês, the archaeological remains of which have also recently been recovered.
Among the fortresses built for the internal defence of the rivers of Amazonia, the Fort of Santo António do Gurupá, Gurupá (pa) is worthy of mention. Built in the 17th century over the ruins of a Dutch fortification, it was modified in the 18th century and was used as a station for recording the movement of the vessels that sailed up and down the river. The same thing happened with the Fort of Óbidos, in Óbidos (pa), which was built in the deepest and narrowest stretch of the River Amazon. But the most imposing example of military architecture in Amazonia is undoubtedly the Fortress of São José de Macapá, Macapá (ap). Designed by the Italian engineer Henrique António Galuzzi, and built between 1764 and 1782 at the mouth of the Amazon delta, it is the largest 18th-century fortification in Brazil and is best compared with the Fort of Príncipe da Beira, Costa Marques (ro). They both fulfilled the essential purpose of symbolising the political possession of the territory, within the framework of the strict demarcation of its boundaries, although neither of them were actually used for war purposes. Both constructions were literally built as monuments.
In addition to the fortress, the defence of the entrance to the river was also meant to be guaranteed by the town of São José de Macapá (ap). Its creation was one of the priorities of the government of Francisco Xavier de Mendonça Furtado. He sent the engineer Tomás Rodrigues da Costa there, making him responsible for drawing up the plan for the town, which can be understood as one of the main features of the urban reform undertaken by the Marquis of Pombal's brother in Amazonia.
The marking of the boundaries is crucial for understanding the activities of Mendonça Furtado and his successors in the government of Amazonia. Moving the capital and changing the name of the State were measures designed to ensure a more effective management and to strengthen the control of the vast territory. The creation of the captaincy of Rio Negro in 1755 was another move that can be understood as part of this same strategy. But the political and ideological project for transforming the region was much more extensive and one of its main foundations was an important set of laws - above all the law that established the total freedom of the natives, promulgated in 1755, and the "Directive that must be observed in the Indian settlements of Pará and Maranhão'1 which was published in 1757 and ratified by the king in 1758.
The implementation of this law resulted in the creation of the so-called Pombaline towns of Amazonia, which were made by converting - and in several cases redesigning - the former missions. These were then rechristened with the names of important towns in the metropolis (in a duplication of place names that was clearly intended to reaffirm that these towns belonged to a region that was unquestionably meant to be Portuguese). Not only did this law state that Indians and white men should live together in the newly-created towns in a peaceful, cordial and civilised manner, but it was also expressly recommended that such coexistence should result in a gradual miscegenation of the population, with mixed marriages being actively encouraged. The same law was later implemented across the whole of Brazil in 1759, making it necessary to convert the missions into towns.
Even before the introduction of the directive, Mendonça Furtado employed the members of the boundary commission in the urbanisation works. Their intervention in the former town of Caeté, rechristened Bragança (pa), was an important precedent. One of the goals of the town's reorganisation was, as it had been in Macapá, to install there a sizeable number of Azorean couples, who had been sent to Amazonia as settlers. The other aim was to open and maintain an overland road to Maranhão, which was designed by engineers at the same time as they redesigned the town. The same thing happened in Ourém (pa), the town that was created at another point along the road. In both cases, the aim was to make sure that the settlements that had been (re)founded offered possibilities for the peaceful coexistence between the Azorean settlers and the indigenous people who had already been installed in the missions there.
Among the actions that were undertaken after the introduction of this new legislation, mention should be made of the creation of the town of Óbidos (pa), which resulted from the joining together of a small settlement next to the fort of Pauxis and the "little village” of the Franciscans of Mercy. Describing the town, towards the end of the 18th century, Bishop Dom Frei Caetano Brandão said that it had a "quite beautiful plan, with houses lined up in streets and looking very orderly with their thatched roofs: a beautiful square in the middle” Despite its simplicity, the urban centre of Óbidos is one of the most interesting inland towns of Amazonia, since it has preserved the original appearance of its single-storey houses and the overall cohesiveness of the whole.
In Maranhão, R. Moreira points out that Viana, Monção, Guimarães, Cantanhede and Penalva, were all Jesuit missions or estates in the lowland area that were raised to the status of towns. Caxias (ma) was the new name given to the Jesuit missions of Tresidela and Aldeias Altas, which were joined together to form a town in 1766. It benefited from an important geographical location, standing at the last navigable point on the River Itapecuru and also serving as the junction of the roads leading to São Luís and the estates of Piauí, as well as to the valley of São Francisco and the inland region of Bahia. It was an important centre of cotton production in the 19th century.
The Jesuits were responsible for the most monumental religious architecture in northern Brazil. The most imposing example is that of the Church and Former College of Saint Alexander, in Belém (pa). The huge church (the floor plan of which follows the model of the Chiesa del Gesù in Rome) and the college building provide clear evidence of the powerful implantation of the order in the region. The façade with its three doors is notable for its very interesting relief work in mortar, in which the Mannerist inspiration associated with the gigantic scale of the different elements gives the church a particular mestiço feel, bringing it close to the altar- piece-style façades of the Jesuits in Spanish America. The interior is notable for the carving of its altarpieces, which were the work of local artisans, and, above all, for the two pulpits attributed to Father João Xavier Traer, an Austrian who lived in Belém until 1737.
The excellence of the Jesuit carving gave rise to the so-called "Maranhão school of sculpture” the main workshop of which was located on the island of São Luís, in the village of Ani- dimbá, which was raised to the status of a town in 1761, with the name of Paço do Lumiar (ma). The workshop was often visited by the Austrian priest from Belém.
The former Jesuit church of Our Lady of Light is now the Cathedral of Our Lady of Victory in São Luís. The project, designed by one of the most important missionaries in the north Brazil, Father Bettendorf, the author of Crónica da Companhia de Jesus no Maranhão, followed "the guidelines of Vitruvius, the master of the architects, in imitation of the Church of Our Lady of Loreto, in Lisbon". Alterations that were made in the 20th century have since changed the appearance of the building, especially the façade. Inside, the carved and gilded altarpiece of the high altar was the first to be made in the "national style” in Brazil.
In the town of Vigia (pa), the Church of the Mother of God is one of the most interesting buildings of the Society of Jesus in Brazil, particularly for its imposing side verandas on the upper floor, embellished with twelve thick Tuscan columns that support the wooden roof of the church. Bazin says that this is a unique example in Brazil, although these verandas can be associated with Jesuit buildings in India. They can also be compared (albeit with different uses) to the verandas that are found in the 18th-century country houses on the estates of Rio de Janeiro, such as the house of the Colubandê Estate, in São Gonçalo (rj), where a similar use was made of thick Tuscan columns directly supporting the roof, probably based upon the house and chapel of the São Bento Estate, a Benedictine building in Duque de Caxias (rj). There is a shortage of studies about these wider-reaching links to the formal vocabulary used in the colony, but it is nonetheless evident that some solutions, in particular those which called for adaptation to the specific climatic conditions, had either been tried out in various situations or else were rapidly assimilated and transmitted by the agents.
As far as other religious orders are concerned, the most significant buildings are those of the Carmelites: the Church of Mount Carmel in Alcântara (ma), which is the richest and best preserved church in the city; the Church of Mount Carmel, in São Luís (ma), which still displays clear links with the 17th-century style; and the Church of Mount Carmel and the Chapel of the Third Order, in Belém (pa), which is a highly significant example of the vicissitudes of the successive reconstructions of churches. The first building, made of rammed earth, was in ruins in 1696. A new building was then erected and, in 1721, there were reports in Lisbon of the festivities held to mark the transfer of the Blessed Sacrament to the new church. The chancel dates from this period and its altarpieces were made in 1720. A project for the façade, which was entirely made of stone, was commissioned in Lisbon. The foundations for the façade caused damage to the nave, which had to be demolished and rebuilt, in keeping with the design commissioned from António José Landi, the Italian architect who belonged to the boundary commission and was also responsible for several other works in Belém.
In the Chapel of the Third Order of Saint Francis in Penitence, the altarpiece of the chancel has been attributed to Landi. The Church and Convent of Saint Antony, in Belém (pa), were considerably changed. Nonetheless, the interior of the church still contains some 18th-century tile panels. In the Convent of Saint Antony, in São Luís (ma), the most interesting feature is the Chapel of the Brotherhood of Our Lord of the Navigators, which must have been the original convent church built in 1625 that was later enriched by the brotherhood, who were responsible for the preservation of the seven chapels of the Procession of the Passion in Holy Week (of which only four have survived).
The friars of the Order of Mercy had convents in São Luís and Belém. Near the Convent of São Luís stands the Church of Saint Joseph in Exile, with a rare pentagonal floor plan, about which there is little information. There is no general agreement about the architect of the Church and Convent of Mercy in Belém (ba). It is a unique building with a convex façade and two recessed towers that accentuate its dynamism and cause its urban integration to be more acceptable. It is surely one of the most distinctive buildings in Belém, and it was completed at the time when the city was made the capital of the State of Grão-Pará and Maranhão, during the period of great baroque monumentality.
We can also include in this context the completion of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Grace, a building of exceptional size, with a wide façade that has seven windows on the upper floor, the crowning element of which was designed by António José Landi. The Church of Saint Anne and the Chapel of Saint John the Baptist were both designed by the Bolognese architect. In the
Church of Saint Anne, he used a floor plan in the shape of a Greek cross, which was unusual for Brazil, with a cupola over the transept. In the Chapel of Saint John the Baptist, the floor plan is an irregular octagon inserted in a square. Isabel Mendonça draws attention to the painting in perspective on the back wall of the chancel, denoting a Bibienesque influence (the sceno- graphic style that was characteristic of the Bibiena brothers).
Landi designed the Governors' Palace, the largest building used for such purposes to be built in colonial Brazil. It was clearly intended to be a monumental edifice, being built in a vast square in front of the port, which was, and still is, the heart of the city and represents its link to the rest of the region. He must also have designed some sobrados for the wealthy owners of Belém, for which some of the drawings are known. Nonetheless, there are very few surviving examples of 18th-century civil architecture in the city. The House of the Eleven windows is the result of the adaptation that Landi made to a sobrado located in the cathedral square in order to establish the royal hospital there.
When talking about the urban civil architecture of São Luís (ma), R. Moreira says that it is the "buildings as a whole that represent the monument'! The same can be said of the Pom- baline centre of the city of Lisbon. The sobrados in the historic centre of São Luís are, in fact, a genuine document of urban life in colonial Brazil and mirror its relationship with the capital of the metropolis. Even more interesting is the fact that the tiles used to cover the façades of the sobrados of São Luís (and Belém) were brought from Portugal and the same solution - apparently a very tropical one - was later used in houses in Lisbon and Porto, affording such buildings an unquestionable "family appearance” until well into the 19th century.