Mariua

Mariuá stood on the Rio Negro amid the forests and river channels of the central Amazon. An Indigenous settlement before the arrival of the Carmelites, it became a mission and later the colonial town of Barcelos. Its position on the river made it a base for Portuguese activity in the vast country upstream.

The Carmelite mission was established in 1728, during the conflict between the Portuguese and the Manaós. From Mariuá, colonial expeditions sought Indigenous captives on the Rio Negro and its tributaries. In 1758 the settlement was raised to a town and renamed Barcelos, becoming the capital of the captaincy of São José do Rio Negro. Indigenous labour and the forced relocation of communities played a central part in building the new colonial centre.