Taba-ybaté

Taubaté lies in the Paraíba valley of São Paulo, between the Serra do Mar and the Mantiqueira mountains. The Indigenous Guaianá inhabited the region before the growth of the Portuguese settlement associated with Jacques Félix. Its position in the valley made it an important point on routes from São Paulo toward the interior and the mining country.

In 1645 the settlement became the town of São Francisco das Chagas de Taubaté. Expeditions from the valley took part in the search for gold in Minas Gerais, and a foundry was established at Taubaté in 1695 to supervise and collect the royal share of gold. Roads through the valley carried travellers between the coastal settlements and the interior, while farms supplied the growing communities along their course.