The Bibi Costa Mansion in Belém, capital of the Amazonian state of Pará, was the city residence of José Júlio de Andrade, one of the most ruthless rubber barons of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. De Andrade amassed an enormous fortune through the exploitation of rubber tappers in the Amazon rainforest, using forced labor, violence, and debt bondage to maintain his empire. He died in 1953, but his legacy of cruelty appears to linger in the mansion. Residents and visitors have reported hearing the screams and moaning of what sound like enslaved workers echoing through the building's vast rooms, the rattling of chains, and the apparition of de Andrade himself — described as a stern, well-dressed man who appears in the upper-floor windows watching the street below. EVP recordings taken in the mansion have allegedly captured voices speaking in Portuguese, some pleading for mercy. The building, an ornate example of Belle Époque architecture reflecting the wealth of the rubber boom, has fallen into disrepair, and its crumbling grandeur adds to its haunted atmosphere. In Brazilian popular belief, the spirits of those who suffered under de Andrade's regime are unable to rest until justice is done — a justice that the living world never delivered.
