Jucas

The town now called Jucás developed as São Mateus in Ceará's Jaguaribe valley. The municipal historical account places its early settlement near the river's left bank, in an area inhabited by Quixelô people. Settlers arriving from the São Francisco basin and neighboring northeastern captaincies sought land along the Jaguaribe and its tributaries. The history of the town consequently belongs to a river valley already occupied before colonial settlement expanded into it.

A documented step in the formation of São Mateus came on 4 September 1731, when Cosmo Ferreira da Silva donated land for a chapel. The church became the focus of an emerging parish, separated from Icó on 7 December 1755. Its construction proceeded in stages, beginning with the chancel and sacristy before the main body and later additions. São Mateus was raised to town status in 1823. These dates trace the settlement's progression from a chapel foundation to an ecclesiastical and municipal center before the end of the colonial and early imperial period.