Itaim Paulista is a district in the subprefecture of the same name in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. The name Itaim comes from Tupi and means Little Stone. There is a large Pentecostalist Evangelical Protestant presence in the suburban areas along with a flourishing Catholic community. Despite significant poverty there is a surfaced road network and a good basic sanitation system. The area is served by banks, retail and wholesale shopping establishments, supermarkets, hospitals and clinics. The Shopping Itaim Paulista shopping centre and the Itaim Paulista General Hospital were opened recently. The area is linked to the rest of São Paulo by the Metropolitan Train Company (CPTM)'s Line 12. The local stations are Itaim Paulista (CPTM) and Jardim Romano (CPTM). The area is connected by road to Itaquaquecetuba by the Avenida Marechal Tito, to Ferraz de Vasconcelos by the Avenida Tibúrcio de Sousa and Itajuibe Street and to Poá by a bridge over the Três Pontes (Three Bridges) river. History Early settlement The area occupied today by the District of Itaim Paulista was first settled in the early years of the 17th century by Portuguese awarded grants of land under the semaria system. In 1610–11, the Bandeirante Domingos de Góes received a grant of land in the "Boi Sentado" area near the Tietê River. This passed into the hands of the Carmelite priests in 1621. It was during this period that the chapel of Our Lady of Biacica was constructed (the name derives from the Tupi word "imbeicica", signifying a tough vine commonly found along the Tietê River). The chapel is considered symbolic of the area's first permanent settlement. Calculated from the date of the chapel's construction, Itaim Paulista is 317 years old. Reckoned from the probable date of arrival of the bandeirantes and priests, Itaim Paulista is 390 years old. The official anniversary of Itaim Paulista's foundation is celebrated on the date when the District became separate from the District of São Miguel Paulista in 1980. Growth of Itaim Paulista The growth of the area was constrained by the proximity of larger villages such as São Miguel Paulista and Lajeado. During its first few centuries Itaim Paulista was a collection of small farms, ranches and smallholdings, held back by inadequate infrastructure and overshadowed by neighbouring communities. It was only towards the end of the 18th century that Itaim Paulista began to grow. The arrival of the railway (the