Urban waters: the forms of appropriations of water in Mariana/MG (1745 - 1798)

• Grant number: 12/50492-4
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants - Publications - Books published in Brazil
• Start date: August 01, 2012
• End date: July 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - History of Brazil
• Principal Investigator: Leila Mezan Algranti
• Grantee: Leila Mezan Algranti
• Host Institution: Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas (IFCH). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The forms of water appropriation correspond to the ways the individuals conceived the different modes of obtaining, using and relating to this liquid in certain historical situations. Besides the essential physiological issue, conceding waters, social, cultural and even economic aspects are weaved and come about their weft. The goal of this work is to investigate the forms of water appropriation in the urban site of the city of Mariana, in the Capitan of Minas Gerais, Brazil, between the years of 1745 and 1798, when its urban reform took place. Likewise, other mining urban centers, Mariana grew around the margins of rivers and streams, where mining services took place. In 1745 D. João the 5th, King of Portugal chose Vila de Nossa Senhora do Carmo the former name of the city of Mariana, then suffering from floods, as the episcopate headquarters of the Capitan. To fulfill this new religious function, the king ordered the required urban interventions in the city. This work includes the plurality of water appropriations in Mariana, focusing on issues like water restraining, distribution and famishing, as well as the multiple intentions, impressions and sensitivities involved in water consumption in that city. (AU)