the exact date of paraty's founding is disputed, but at any rate it existed in relative tranquility until the gold boom that consumed the first half of the eighteenth century in colonial brazil - at the time, the only route linking rio de janeiro to minas gerais, in the interior of brazil where the gold mines were located, ran through paraty, making it very strategically located.

in an effort to crack down on smuggling, the government in rio mandated the use of the port at paraty for the transportation of all said riches, and it is estimated that more than 150,000 portuguese prospectors passed through on their way to the mines - given its geographic limitations in respect to agricultural development, paraty devoted itself to commerce, and during this period was the second-busiest port in brazil behind rio.