GomesFreireandthetransformationsofthecityinthecenturyofenlightenment

When he took over the government of the captaincy of Rio de Janeiro in 1733, Gomes Freire de Andrade – the Count of Bobadela – prioritized urban infrastructure and beautification projects, placing concerns about the city's defense in the background. To do this, he relied on the work of military engineer José Fernandes Pinto Alpoim, a Portuguese man who led much of the city's modernization efforts.

Image description: The image is a black-and-white engraving. It shows a large building with a light-colored façade and regularly spaced windows. On the left, there is a smaller entrance with an open door. In front of the building, there is a horse-drawn carriage, with people around it. In the background, there is a smaller structure, possibly a gate or a secondary building. The inscription in the image reads "Convento da Ajuda".

It was mainly under the government of Gomes Freire – which lasted almost thirty years – that much of the urbanization of the Campo da Cidade took place and that many churches and brotherhoods were erected. His religious conduct created the conditions for the construction of the Ajuda and Santa Teresa convents – to whom he was devoted and where he was buried after his death, in 1763 –, in 1750.

Image description: This is a black-and-white engraving. The image shows a historic structure raised on a hill. On the left side, there is an area with trees and people walking. In the center, a large structure with a sloped roof and central tower is highlighted. On the right, there is a small isolated house. People are distributed along the base of the hill and at the top of the structure.

In the cultural field, as a lover of literature, he encouraged the founding of writers' collectives, such as the Academia dos Felizes (1736) and the Academia dos Seletos (1752). He created the colony's first printing press (1747), run by the Portuguese typographer Antônio Isidoro da Fonseca, and was responsible for the renovation of the Palácio dos Governadores (1743), in Largo do Carmo.

In terms of infrastructure, the highlights were the works to solve water supply problems, such as the completion of the reconstruction of the Carioca Aqueduct in 1750, and the construction of the fountains at Campo de Santo Antônio and Largo do Carmo – prior to Mestre Valentim's.

Image description: This is a black-and-white engraving. The image shows an aqueduct and a convent located in Santa Teresa. On the left side, there is a palm tree and some trees. In the center, the aqueduct is made up of arches and low structures. On the right, the convent stands on a hill, with several structures and towers. The sky is clear with a few clouds. At the bottom of the image, there is the text "Aqueducto e Convento de Sta. Thereza".

All the urban interventions during Gomes Freire's period paved the way for the more intense reception of Enlightenment modernization ideas, which became consolidated in the 1750s.