In the past, the area was home to the
taba of
Cacique Tibiriçá, father of the indigenous woman Bartira who married the pioneer
João Ramalho. The village remained there until the year the
Cacique died, in 1562. Tibiriçá, along with other natives, contributed to defending the future city of São Paulo from attacks by enemy tribes, since the site was strategically positioned on top of a hill, which provided a wide view of the area around the town. In 1598, the Benedictine Friar Mauro Teixeira chose Largo São Bento for the foundation of a small chapel under the invocation of
Saint Benedict. The building would stand between the
Anhangabaú and
Tamanduateí rivers, covering the
Anhangabaú Valley on one side and the current
25 de Março Street on the other. Around 1600, friars Mateus de Ascensão, Antonio de Assunção and Bento da Purificação came to São Paulo and transformed the church into a monastery. Fifty years later,
Fernão Dias Pais, known as "the emerald hunter", donated a large sum of money for the construction of a new church. In gratitude, his remains, as well as those of his wife Maria Garcia, were kept in the monastery. In addition to the dates of his birth and death, a plaque in the ground reads: "Great benefactors of this abbey / Their remains transferred to this tomb / Benedictine gratitude". In 1854, the largo underwent a redevelopment in line with European models of the time due to the intense traffic caused by two large hotels installed in its vicinity. On December 23, 1866, the oldest bathhouse, Seria Paulista, was inaugurated in Largo São Bento, with eight marble bathtubs, taps and lead plumbing. In July 1900, Miguel Kruse assumed the direction of the monastery. In 1903, in an attempt to create a proper secondary school, the São Bento School founded under the administration of the Order. In 1908, the
Faculty of Philosophy was founded, the first in Brazil and currently linked to the
PUC in São Paulo. In 1911, the first abbey of
Benedictine nuns in South America, the Monastery of St. Mary, was established. == Cultural events ==