Paths of waters, paths of lands: trailing the Alagoas territory through the maps of the first colonial centuries

ABSTRACT

During the colonial period, the lands called Alagoas initially belonged to the Captaincy of Pernambuco. However, traces of its geographical origins can be found in the first maps of Brazil. By examining the Portuguese cartography of the Albernaz family, and later, the dense Dutch material, we can see how the region has been mapped out. Firstly, geographical features, particularly rivers, were marked out; and later the villages, roads, and sugar-mills were identified in these maps. Prominent among the maps analyzed here is the Brasiliae Geographia et Hidrographica Tabula Nova..., which was ably produced by George Marcgraf, and is the most important 17th century cartographic document in the so-called Dutch Brazil period. In addition, there are landscapes by Frans Post which allow us to examine the first three villages founded in the region. Among the points that can be observed are the routes, which were initially watercourses and later became tracks across the lands. When we compare this old cartographic material with today’s maps we perceive that some of these roads - currently highways - follow almost exactly the same routes from nearly 400 years ago. The analysis of Alagoas State, which is characterized by its lagoon features, is completed with the analyses of its three initial villages, followed by the study of the capital, Maceió, based on the city’s oldest map that was produced in the 18th century in which the waterways and roads are also conspicuous.

KEYWORDS:
17th century cartography; Territorial formation of Alagoas; Roadways; Dutch iconography