The National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Portuguese: Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional - IPHAN) is a Brazilian government agency linked to the Ministry of Culture and created in 1937 to preserve, publicize, inspect and enact the legal protection of Brazil's patrimony. In the North, there are material assets and urban complexes formed as a result of different historical and cultural contexts, but derived from the exploitation of the Amazon's natural resources, such as: the rubber cycle, which transformed the region into an important economic hub for Brazil in the 19th century and originated the architectural and artistic patrimony of Manaus and Belém; the gold cycle and the expeditions of the bandeirantes from São Paulo in the 18th and 19th centuries, leading to settlements in the current state of Tocantins, such as Natividade and Porto Nacional; the expansion of the mineral extraction industry in the 20th century, which led to the creation of projects such as Vila Serra do Navio, in Amapá; and deforestation and activism in favor of forest preservation.[1][2]
Between 1938 and 2018, IPHAN registered 39 sites in the North of Brazil, including historic buildings, city centers and landscapes. Entities listed by IPHAN are organized under the Livros do Tombo, which is organized into 4 categories: Arqueológico, Etnográfico e Paisagístico (English: Archaeological, Ethnographic and Landscape), Histórico (Historic), Belas Artes (Fine Arts) e Artes Aplicadas (Applied Arts).[3]