São Paulo Metro construction halted by archaeological finds

Construction of the future 14 Bis-Saracura station on São Paulo's Metro Line 6-Orange has been halted following the discovery of new archaeological findings in the Bixiga district. The interruption affects the entire construction site, located in the Bela Vista region.

Archaeological monitoring identified a room at a depth of 2.2 meters containing items such as indigo, bundles of twigs, and other artifacts associated with African-matrix religions. These findings suggest the space may have served as a sacred place of worship. The site, known as Saracura-Vai-Vai, has already yielded over 4,000 cataloged pieces, providing evidence of an ancient quilombo that once existed near the Saracura stream.

The concessionaire, Linha Uni, stated that work will remain suspended while awaiting technical guidelines and authorization from the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan) regarding the proper handling and rescue of the materials. There is currently no set date for the resumption of civil works.