Tupiniquim

At the mouth of the Rio de Contas, the settlement later called Itacaré stands where the river reaches the Atlantic through the forested coast of Bahia. Tupiniquim people inhabited the area when Europeans arrived in the sixteenth century. A Jesuit presence and a church dedicated to Saint Michael formed part of the colonial settlement, known as São Miguel da Barra do Rio das Contas; in 1732 it was raised to the status of a town.