History of Trancoso

Trancoso’s history begins long before tourism. It runs through the Indigenous peoples of the coast, the arrival of the Portuguese in 1500, the Jesuit missions and centuries of simple living, until the village was “rediscovered” at the end of the 20th century.

Before and during the arrival of the Portuguese

The coast of southern Bahia was Indigenous territory when Pedro Álvares Cabral’s fleet arrived in April 1500. The region became known as the Discovery Coast (Costa do Descobrimento): it was here that the first encounter between the Portuguese and Indigenous people (April 23, 1500) and the first Mass in Brazil (April 26, 1500) took place, according to Wikipedia.

One hypothesis links Trancoso directly to that moment. Wikipedia cites historian Max Justo Guedes, according to whom the fleet landed at the Rio dos Frades, in Trancoso, on April 22, 1500. Other historians place these events at different points along the coast, so we treat this as a hypothesis.

The Jesuit mission village

The village was born as a Jesuit mission settlement called São João Batista dos Índios. Portuguese-language Wikipedia records 1586; the English version, 1583. The mission layout, with a large open space, the church at one end and the houses around it, is the origin of the Quadrado and the São João Batista Church.

Centuries of isolation

For a long time, Trancoso was a village of fishermen and farmers, little known outside the region. According to Wikipedia, it remained unknown nationally until the late 1970s.

The rediscovery

In the late 1970s, alternative travelers arrived in the village and began spreading the word. From the 1990s, as tourism increased, growth was “dizzying”, in Wikipedia’s words. English-language Wikipedia notes that in 1999 a road linked Trancoso to Porto Seguro’s commercial infrastructure and airport.

Trancoso today

The district had 18,618 inhabitants in 2022, up from 11,006 in 2010, according to IBGE data cited by Wikipedia. The population blends descendants of Indigenous, African and European peoples, as well as residents who came from other regions and countries. The little houses of the Quadrado have become shops, restaurants and guesthouses.

The Pataxó

The Pataxó people live in southern Bahia and are an essential part of this story. The Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) recorded about 12,865 Pataxó in 2020. To learn about their culture, see the Jaqueira Reserve and Monte Pascoal.

For the regional context, read the Discovery Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.