HINTERLAND’S CITIES: The view of a nineteenth century frenchman.

Abstract

This article aims to discuss a French traveler’s view on the cities he visited in the hinterland of Goiás in the first half of the nineteenth century. The analysis of his reports contributes to the history and memory of a region which, despite being geographically central, was facing economic difficulties in a specific time in which the mining activity was in decline and the people who were still in the hinterlands started looking for other ways of exploiting the territory. The text will also be based on the discussion of the categories space, hinterland and cities, which are essential to the historical understanding of this issue. The stories about the cities and this area are important for the understanding of this historical period which is scarce in publications but rich in daily life details, architecture, and ways of being and doing of the man from the hinterland.