As casas de matriz afro-religiosas como patrimônio histórico de Santarém-Pará

Abstract

Santarém, located in the west of the state of Pará, is one of the oldest cities in the northern region and can be characterized by its natural beauty and the diversity of its population. However, the definition of what is historical heritage in Santarém has privileged European aesthetics and Christian religious architecture, although in recent decades initiatives to preserve practices inherited from indigenous peoples have been expanded, the main expression being the celebration of Çairé. Considering the invisibility of Afro-Brazilian history in the definition of the historical and cultural heritage of the city, the present research seeks to present Santarém's Afro-religious terreiros as a space that holds memories, ancestry and resistance, being places of enormous patrimonial value for society. This is a qualitative research based, first, on bibliographical research on historical heritage, particularly on the challenges of Afro-Brazilian heritage, and on the silencing of Afro-Brazilian history and heritage in the historical discourse produced about Santarém. Then, from the fieldwork and semi-structured interviews, we present the mapping of the terreiros in Santarém and the view of the subjects involved in the houses about the history and the importance of such spaces for the city.