São Luiz do Paraitinga: iluminist to what extent?

ABSTRACT São Luiz do Paraitinga became known nationally after the disaster that devastated it in 2010. Part of its heritage listed houses and the main church collapsed or were seriously damaged by a flood, which forced several public institutions to work together to minimize the damage. In this context, there was the emergency listing of the city at a federal level, whose main justification was the affiliation of its urban plan and architecture to the enlightenment precepts in vogue at the time and that guided a number of other centers in the second half of the 18th century. Although IPHAN has been operating in the city since the 1950s, and CONDEPHAAT since the moment of its creation in the 1960s, few studies have focused on understanding the history of its built heritage. Thus, after a decade of the disaster and its federal listing, this article aims to review part of the remaining primary documentation and propose a new interpretation on the creation and development of this city that is now a national heritage site.