Rota dos Pioneiros

The Paraná River is part of the history of indigenous peoples, Spanish explorers, Portuguese bandeirantes, and Jesuits. It was the scene of battles, a route of access, pursuit, and great escapes. This region belonged to the Spanish crown until the mid-17th century. In 1556, at the mouth of the Piquiri River in Paraná, Ciudad Real del Guairá was founded, one of the first Spanish colonial cities that focused on the export of yerba mate, the main economic activity. To prevent the destruction of cities in Guairá and reduce conflicts, Jesuit priests were sent by the Spanish empire in 1588, traveling along the Paraná River and its tributaries for evangelization, and from 1610 they established fixed missions, such as the first foundations of San Ignacio Mini and Loreto, on the banks of the Paranapanema. Guairá had up to 18 Jesuit missions, housing around 200,000 indigenous people from the Guarani and Jê tribes. One of the greatest river epics was the Guairen Exodus in 1631, when about 12,000 indigenous people and 700 boats traveled downstream along the Paranapanema and then the Paraná, fleeing a major attack by bandeirantes. In the 18th century, the Portuguese built the Military Post of São José da Pedra Furada do Piquiri (1772-1773) near the ruins of Ciudad Real, which was abandoned in 1632, with the expansion of Portugal's geographical boundaries that shaped Brazil. In this last century, we witnessed the shipwrecks of the vessels of the lieutenants of the 1924 Revolution until the arrival of the 'new pioneers': the immigrants and coffee growers from northwest Paraná.