From the Tamanduateí River to the Chafariz da Misericórdia: the social construction of water in colonial São Paulo

Abstract

This article analyzes the relationship between watercourses and the urban and social formation of the village and city of São Paulo during the colonial period, more precisely between the 16th and 18th centuries. Starting from the geography of the Piratininga plateau and the strategic importance of rivers as vectors of settlement, communication, and subsistence, it investigates how water played a central role in the organization of the territory, while also being the object of disputes, regulations, and selective appropriations. Through the examination of the “Atas da Câmara Municipal de São Paulo”, the study observes how local power regulated access to water resources, revealing social, sanitary, and class conflicts. The study also highlights the Chafariz da Misericórdia (1795), a symbol of transformations in urban water supply, whose construction involved the freed Black architect Joaquim Pinto de Oliveira, known as Tebas. Finally, the article proposes a critical reflection on urban memory, structural inequalities, and the historical invisibilization of subaltern subjects.