In Purgatorio, Dante and Virgil arrived at the first level of Purgatory, where there was a vast sloping plain.
It might have been the slope at the foot of Mount Purgatory, from where the sea could be seen.
Rio de Janeiro meant "River of January" in Portuguese because Portuguese explorers discovered it in January. At first, however, it received little attention and merely served as a base for French timber smugglers.
Later, gold was discovered in Minas Gerais, and only then did the Portuguese begin to value Rio. They built fortresses there, drove out the smugglers, and set up cannons.
Vitruvius usually advised people to build cities on plains, but according to tourist magazines, this was a mountainous region. Only the area overlooked by the statue of Jesus with outstretched arms was somewhat level. The hills were covered in slums. They looked beautiful from afar, but they were not places tourists should venture into.
This urban layout had existed ever since those living in the mountain fortress moved down the slopes after the city was established. When the War of the Spanish Succession began, Portugal could not remain untouched. To pay for the war, they had no choice but to increase gold extraction and sugar production in northeastern Brazil.
During this period, both Spain and Portugal violated the Treaty of Tordesillas. The only excuse for colonists to leave the coast and head inland was to search for gold mines or the lost Golden City. The explorers themselves also kept their discoveries secret, refusing to tell colonial authorities where they had found gold.
These people were called provincials. They spoke Portuguese but were not natives of Brazil, and most of them were penniless. They did everything they could to accumulate assets, yet they could not afford the fertile, already cultivated sugar