São Mateus do Sul, Paraná (Brazil) (original) (raw)

The municipality of São Mateus do Sul (45,806 inhabitants in 2018; 134,263 ha) is located 120 km south of Curitiba.

São Mateus do Sul was "conquered" in 1769 by Lieutenant Bruno da Costa Figueiras, leader of the Fourth Expedition, as a base for the occupation of Guarapuava ordered by Luiz de Souza Botelho e Mourão, Captain of São Paulo. The place was first settled in 1877 by Brazilian colonists; later on, Spaniards failed to establish a colony. Attracted by rumors of petrol deposits in 1885, Germans led by Rudolph Wolff and Gustavo Frederico Thenius established in 1885 a colony named Porto Santa Maria, as a tribute to the patron saint's of the founders' wives and daughters. The place was subsequently renamed to Maria Augusta as a tribute to the wife of Engineer José Carvalho Sobrino, one of the administrators of the colony.
The municipality of São Mateus was established by Law No. 763 promulgated on 2 April 1908 and inaugurated on 21 September 1908. The municipality was renamed to São Mateus do Sul by a State Decree-Law promulgated in 1943.
The end of navigation on river Iguaçu caused the decline of the town, which re-emerged in the late 1960s when Petrobrás established a plant to process schistose extracted locally.

https://www.saomateusdosul.pr.gov.br/
Municipal website

The flag of São Mateus do Sul is blue with a white shield inscribing the municipal coat of arms.

Photos
https://www.facebook.com/prefeiturasms/photos/3046929458929068
https://www.facebook.com/prefeiturasms/photos/2975923459363002