This Brazilian city blends commercial energy with lively nightlife. Home to 1.5 million, it features colonial architecture downtown and trendy spots in Moinhos de Vento district.
Porto Alegre, the capital of Brazil's southernmost state Rio Grande do Sul, is a vibrant city along the banks of Guaíba Lake. The city's European heritage is evident in its architecture and cuisine, while its Brazilian roots shine through in its lively street life and cultural scene. Explore the Gasometer Cultural Center, a former power plant turned arts venue, or join locals for a traditional churrasco barbecue. As night falls, experience the energetic atmosphere in neighborhoods like Cidade Baixa, where bars and music venues come alive.
Location and Climate
Porto Alegre is situated where five rivers converge to form Guaíba Lake. The city experiences four distinct seasons. Summers, from December to March, are warm, while winters, from June to September, are cool. Spring and fall offer mild temperatures, making them ideal for exploring the city on foot.
Places of Interest
The Usina do Gasômetro, once a power plant, now serves as a cultural center on the shore of Guaíba Lake. Climb to its top floor for a 360-degree view of the city and lake.
Porto Alegre's Public Market, established in 1869, houses more than 100 shops and eateries. Here, you can taste local specialties like erva mate tea or browse through handicrafts and fresh produce.
The Metropolitan Cathedral's interior features ornate decorations and colorful stained glass windows, reflecting various architectural influences from the Renaissance period.
Parks and Green Spaces
Farroupilha Park, covering 37 hectares in the city center, is Porto Alegre's largest urban green space. On weekends, it becomes a hub of activity with people jogging, picnicking, and browsing the handicraft fair.
The Botanical Garden houses over 3,000 plant species in its themed gardens and greenhouses. As you walk the paths, you'll encounter native Atlantic Forest vegetation alongside exotic tropical plants.
Museums and Culture
The Rio Grande do Sul Museum of Art occupies a Neoclassical building in the downtown area. Its collection spans from 19th-century to contemporary Brazilian art.
At the Júlio de Castilhos Museum, you can learn about the history and traditions of Rio Grande do Sul state through various exhibits and artifacts.
The Iberê Camargo Foundation, housed in a striking modern building, hosts rotating exhibitions of modern and contemporary art. The building's unique architecture adds to the overall experience.
Food and Drink
Churrascarias are at the heart of Porto Alegre's dining scene. In these all-you-can-eat steakhouses, servers bring skewers of various grilled meats directly to your table.
Try chimarrão, the local version of mate tea. It's served in a gourd with a metal straw and often shared among friends as a social custom.
The Bom Fim neighborhood is home to many bars and casual restaurants popular with students and locals. Stop by for a chopp (draft beer) and some typical bar snacks.
Getting Around
Porto Alegre has an extensive bus network that covers most areas of the city. The Trensurb train line connects the airport to downtown.
Taxis and ride-sharing services like Uber are readily available. For exploring the compact city center, walking is often the most convenient option.
Day Trips
The nearby Serra Gaúcha region is the heart of Brazil's wine country. Take a day trip to tour wineries and sample local vintages in the valley towns.
About two hours from Porto Alegre, you'll find Gramado, a town known for its Alpine-style architecture and cooler climate. It's particularly lively during the Christmas season.
![Português
Paraty é um município brasileiro do estado do Rio de Janeiro. Localizado no litoral sul do estado, distante 258 quilômetros da capital, a cidade do Rio de Janeiro.
Em 1667, teve sua emancipação política decretada após várias revoltas populares contra o centralismo que Angra dos Reis exercia sobre a cidade, em especial após a revolta liderada por Domingos Gonçalves de Abreu, tornando-se assim independente.
Junto ao oceano, entre dois rios, Paraty está a uma altitude média de apenas cinco metros. Hoje, é o centro de um município com 930,7 km² com uma população de 39 965 habitantes (densidade demográfica: 35,6 h/km²).
A cidade foi, durante o período colonial brasileiro (1530-1815), sede do mais importante porto exportador de ouro do Brasil.
Por estar localizada quase ao nível do mar, a cidade foi projetada levando em conta o fluxo das marés. Como resultado, muitas de suas ruas são periodicamente inundadas pela maré.
O longo processo de estagnação vivido por Paraty ao longo do século XX manteve, paradoxalmente, o casario colonial, conservado no conjunto conhecido como Centro Histórico, tornando a cidade um dos destinos turísticos mais procurados do país.
Pelas ruas de pedra irregular, circulam, a pé – a entrada de veículos é proibida na maior parte do Centro Histórico -, turistas do mundo inteiro, atraídos pela beleza da arquitetura típica do Brasil Colônia. As casas históricas foram requalificadas como pousadas, restaurantes, lojas de artesanato e museus, em meio a apresentações de músicos populares e de estátuas vivas.
No entanto, Paraty é muito mais que apenas uma pequena cidade histórica. Costeada por montanhas cobertas do denso verde da mata atlântica, a cidade é rodeada de Parques e Reservas Ecológicas, fazendo da região uma das mais preservadas do Brasil. Há mais de 60 ilhas e 90 praias em Paraty, boa parte delas acessível somente de barco ou trilhas. As praias de Trindade são uma atração à parte: em fevereiro de 2009, o governo federal delimitou a Praia do Meio, em Trindade, como parte integrante do Parque Nacional da Serra da Bocaina.
Outro aspecto de relevo no setor é a prática de esportes de aventura. Nas trilhas de Paraty pode-se caminhar por dias a fio. O roteiro mais tradicional entre os amantes da caminhada é a Travessia da Juatinga, que costeia toda a Península da Juatinga, em trilhas de servidão que datam do tempo dos escravos e passam por diversas comunidades caiçaras, responsáveis pela hospedagem e alimentação dos turistas. Dentre outras modalidades pode-se praticar a canoagem oceânica, a vela, o surf e o mergulho autônomo. As águas calmas, cristalinas e sempre tépidas da Baía da Ilha Grande são ideais para essa prática, atraindo grande número de praticantes. Várias operadoras de mergulho oferecem seus serviços na cidade e nas marinas, atendendo não apenas às escolas de mergulho, mas também a turistas interessados em conhecer a Parati subaquática. A canoagem também é idealmente praticada nas águas calmas da baia, destacando os roteiros de mais de um dia que exploram a Baia da Cajaíba e o Saco do Mamanguá. Já o surf é praticado na costa aberta ao mar, que se inicia na ponta da Juatinga e engloba as praias da Sumaca, Martin de Sá, Antigos, Sono e todas da Vila de Trindade.
A rede hoteleira é formada de pequenas pousadas, muitas delas situadas no Centro Histórico.
Fonte: Wikipedia
English:
Paraty (or Parati, Portuguese pronunciation: [pɐɾɐˈtʃi]) is a preserved Portuguese colonial (1500–1822) and Brazilian Imperial (1822–1889) municipality with a population of about 36,000. It is located on the Costa Verde (Green Coast), a lush, green corridor that runs along the coastline of the state of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. Paraty has become a popular tourist destination in recent years, renowned for the historic town and the coast and mountains in the region.
The town is located on the Bay of Ilha Grande, which is dotted with many tropical islands. Rising up as high as 1,300 meters behind the town are tropical forests, mountains, and waterfalls. It is the southernmost and westernmost city in Rio de Janeiro state.
Paraty is surrounded by many parks and nature reserves, including Serra da Bocaina National Park, Serra do Mar State Park (of São Paulo), the Park Reserve of Joatinga and the Cairuçu Environmental Protection Area, where the village of Trindade is located. The municipality also includes an indigenous village and an Afro-Brazilian quilombo.
The village of Paraty was founded in 1597. It was established formally as a town by Portuguese colonizers in 1667, in a region populated by the Guaianás Indians.
The Guaianás people who lived where the city now stands called the entire area “Paraty”. In the Tupi language “Paraty” means “river of fish”. Even today the Brazilian Mullet (Mugil brasiliensis) still come back to spawn in the rivers that spill into the Bay of Paraty. When the region was colonized by the Portuguese, they adopted the Guaianás name for their new town.
After the discovery of the world's richest gold mines in 1696 in the mountains of Minas Gerais, Paraty became an export port for gold to Rio de Janeiro and from there on to Portugal. The ensuing gold rush led to the construction of the "Caminho do Ouro" or "Gold Trail", a 1200 kilometer road, paved in steep areas with large stones, which connected Paraty to Diamantina via Ouro Preto and Tiradentes. Not only was it used to transport gold to Paraty, but it was also used to convey supplies, miners and African slaves by mule train over the mountains to and from the gold mining areas. Two substantial sections of the Caminho do Ouro have been excavated near Paraty and are now a popular tourist destination for hiking.
The Gold Trail fell into disuse because of attacks on the gold laden ships bound for Rio de Janeiro by pirates who frequented the islands and coves of the Bay of Angra dos Reis. Eventually a safer overland route from Minas Gerais to Rio de Janeiro was created because of these pirate raids. Finally, the gold itself began to run out in the late 18th century, and Paraty declined.
The Gold Trail was submitted for inclusion on the World Heritage List in August 2004.
The city's economic activity revived as a port for a new boom, the coffee trade of the Paraiba do Sul River Valley in the early 19th century, until a railway along the valley created cheaper transport to the port of Rio de Janeiro. Another smaller revival came late in the 19th century with the production of cachaça, which is a sugarcane-derived spirit best known today as the basis for Brazil's most famous drink, the caipirinha. The name "Paraty" in that period became synonymous with cachaça. Since then, Paraty has been out of the mainstream, which is why it did not change for centuries, until a paved road was built from Rio de Janeiro to Santos, near São Paulo, in the 1970s. The city then began a new cycle of activity, which transformed a small, almost abandoned town living on very limited economic activity, mainly fishing and agriculture (bananas, manioc, sugarcane) into a tourism destination.
Source: Wikipedia | Paraty in Brazil](https://humbo.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/place-photo/6095b189004fe6a53c371d71/hqb2td41ut_thumb.jpeg)
