Santo_André_da_Borda_do_Campo
Santo André da Borda do Campo
Former Brazilian settlement
Santo André da Borda do Campo was the first European settlement in Portuguese America to be established away from the coast. It was located in the Captaincy of São Vicente, between the fields of the Piratininga plateau and the woods of the Paranapiacaba mountain range, an area that is currently occupied by the municipalities of São Caetano do Sul, Santo André and São Bernardo do Campo.[1]
The settlement was founded by João Ramalho at the suggestion of Father Leonardo Nunes, possibly in 1550. Elevated to the category of town by Tomé de Sousa in 1553 and pressured by attacks from the natives, the population relocated to the Jesuit settlement of São Paulo de Piratininga in 1560, where the Pátio do Colégio is today, at the request of Manuel da Nóbrega and by order of the then Governor-General Mem de Sá.[2]