José Custódio de Sá e Faria and the map of his trip to Iguatemi

ABSTRACT This paper analyzes the first strecht of the Diary of José Custódio de Sá e Faria, specifically the 4-day overland route between São Paulo and Araritaguaba (Porto Feliz), which would continue along rivers to Iguatemi Fort. The focus is on the five maps that outline the route traveled these days. The text of this draft, the first version made during the trip, was transcribed and compared with other versions of the Diary and the associated map, in a commented documentary appendix. An analysis of latent information has allowed us to determine in detail this ancient path dating from time immemorial, probably from the 16th century. A working methodology has been developed for this determination, which can be applied in other cases and becomes particularly interesting at a time when the organizations responsible for Heritage carry out memory preservation.