Centro Histórico de Santarém (Pará): descaso e descaracterização

Abstract

The preservation, conservation and revitalization of old historical areas or nuclei, popularly known in Brazil as historic centers, constitute the guiding axis of this thesis. The spatial focus of the research is the Historic Center of Santarém, located in the western region of the state of Pará, founded in the eighteenth century on the right bank of the Tapajós River, in an area of confluence with the Amazon River. The study begins with an understanding of the CHS as a cultural landscape marked by multiple temporalities, whose built, symbolic and social layers reveal disputes over memory, identity and the use of territory. By adopting landscape as an interpretative key, the investigation does not restrict itself to cataloguing buildings and monuments, but examines how these elements are continuously re-signified by different social actors, revealing processes of appropriation, conflict and meaning-making in the urban space. From this perspective, the research is guided by the following central question: in the twenty-first century, how is the landscape of the Historic Center of Santarém interpreted through different social and institutional lenses, considering, on the one hand, the processes of preservation, conservation and enhancement of heritage assets and, on the other, public policies and their interface with cultural tourism? The main objective is to investigate the factors that contribute to the processes of neglect and disfigurement of the municipality’s Historic Center, compromising the safeguarding of built heritage at municipal, state and federal levels. To achieve this purpose, the following specific objectives are established: (a) to map the built heritage of the CHS, with a view to sustainable use; (b) to outline the profile of residents and their relationship with public heritage policies, as well as their perceptions of this landscape; (c) to identify support and implementation actions for cultural tourism; and (d) to analyze the existence and effectiveness of listing and protection mechanisms within governmental spheres. The study adopts a qualitative approach, of descriptive and exploratory nature, grounded in bibliographic and documentary research, non-participant observation, technical visits and interviews. The narratives of residents reveal dimensions of collective memory and cultural landscape that remain little explored, while the testimonies of government agents, cultural practitioners and representatives of civil society make it possible to confront institutional discourses with effective preservation practices. The originality of the thesis lies in integrating, through the lens of the cultural landscape, the material and symbolic elements that structure the Historic Center of Santarém, proposing a critical reading of public policies and social uses of the territory. By highlighting management gaps, as well as forms of resistance and belonging expressed by local communities, the study offers insights for safeguarding strategies that recognize heritage as a collective asset and a driver of sociocultural development.