The city of São Paulo began as a Jesuit mission on a plateau in southeastern Brazil, set up by the priests Manuel da Nóbrega and José de Anchieta together with a small group of companions. The mission, named for Saint Paul because its first Mass was held on the feast of his conversion, stood between the Tamanduateí and Anhangabaú rivers and aimed to convert the Tupi-speaking Indigenous peoples of the area. Its inland position made it a base for expeditions into the interior in the following centuries. The settlement grew slowly until the coffee boom of the nineteenth century and the industrialization that followed, and São Paulo is now the largest city in Brazil and one of the biggest in the world.
Before and after
- from 1553 to 1559Invasion of Corsica
- 13 December 1553Birth of Henry IV of France
- from January 1554 to March 1576Ottoman expeditions to Morocco
- 9 January 1554Birth of Gregory XV
- 25 January 1554Founding of São Paulo
- 1555Construction of St. Basil's Cathedral
- 25 September 1555Peace of Augsburg
- 23 January 15561556 Shaanxi earthquake
- 1557Founding of Macau
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- 6 August 1538Founding of Bogotá
- 1541Founding of Santiago
- 12 June 1550Founding of Helsinki
- 11 March 1565Founding of Rio de Janeiro
- from 26 July 1581 to 19 January 1795Dutch Republic
- 1614Founding of Tirana
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 16th century.