Mariocai

Mariocai stands near the mouth of the Xingu, where its waters join the channels of the lower Amazon. Indigenous inhabitants knew the place before Europeans established a trading post there. Its position gave access to the great river and to the routes leading inland along the Xingu, near the many islands and channels of the estuary.

Dutch traders built a fort at Mariocai early in the seventeenth century, exchanging goods with local Indigenous communities. In 1623 a Portuguese expedition under Bento Maciel Parente captured their position and established the fort of Santo Antônio de Gurupá on the site. The fort became a base for the expansion of Portuguese power along the lower Amazon, while missions brought further changes to the surrounding Indigenous peoples.