Vitoria

Overview

Vitória, the capital of Espírito Santo, is a city on the southeast coast of Brazil.

History

Vitória, with around 272,000 people, is considered by the UN to be the fourth best place to live in Brazil. History Founded in 1551, is the third oldest capital of Brazil, after Salvador and Recife. For a long time it was only a ‘city-port’, suffering various French, British and Dutch attacks, after sugar and ‘pau-brasil’. Its name is attributed to a victory over the native Indians, when, seeking refuge, the Portuguese fled to the island, and then achieved victory, renaming the village, at the time known only as “Vila Nova”, to “Vila Nova da Vitória”. It has many nicknames, like Ilha do Mel (Honey Island), Cidade Sol (Sun City) and others. Geography It is located in the southeastern region of Brazil, the most developed in the country. The location is strategic, close to the big urban centers, and it is, in average, one hour away by plane from São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte. Circled by the Bay of Vitória, the main island has mangroves, beaches, granite formations and many smaller islands. The municipality of Vitória is made of an archipelago with 34 islands and a continental area. Its total area is 104.260.787km2, including the main island, the continental area, the coastal islands and the oceanic islands of Trindade and Martin Vaz. It used to have more than 50 islands, but now many of them have been incorporated, by landfills, to the main island. The highest point is the Maciço da Fonte Grande, a granite formation 308.8 meters tall, and then there is the Pedra dos (Dois) Olhos, 296m tall. The climate is tropical humid, with a maximum average temperature of 30,4ºC and a minimum of 24ºC, with most of the rainfall in the months between October and January.