Terra Nostra takes us back to the end of the 19th century, when Brazil abolished slavery. Many blacks leave the fazendas and wish to live away from their former masters. Many Italians emigrate to America with the hope of a better life. Among them, the young Matteo Batistela, who on the boat taking him to Brazil will meet a pretty compatriot, Giuliana Esplendore, as well as a couple Bartolo Migliavacca and his wife Leonora with whom he will make friends. In São Paulo, Giuliana will be hosted by a friend of her father's, the banker Francesco Magliano, also an Italian immigrant, who made his fortune and married a Brazilian woman, Dona Janete. The latter has only contempt for the Italians and will make the young Giuliana feel it. Matteo, Bartolo and Leonora, for their part, will find work in the coffee plantation of Senhor Gumercindo Telles in Aranha, whose two daughters Angélica and especially Rosana will not remain indifferent in front of the beautiful Matteo.