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Governador Valadares is a city on the Rio Doce in eastern Minas Gerais, Brazil, famous for the Pico da Ibituruna, one of the world's best launch sites for hang-gliding and paragliding. Its top sights are the 1,123 m Ibituruna peak with its Santa do Ibituruna statue, the Ilha dos Araújos, the old Companhia Açucareira sugar mill and the Catedral de Santo Antônio.
Explorers such as Sebastião Fernandes Tourinho followed the Rio Doce in search of precious metals in the 16th century, but the settlement only took hold around 1907, when the EFVM railway was laid out near coffee and timber producers. The town broke away from Peçanha in the 1930s, and mica and gemstone mining brought fast growth after the 1940s.
With about 266,000 people, it is the ninth most populous city in Minas Gerais, some 320 km east of the state capital. Money sent home by emigrants, above all from the United States, has long fed its commerce, and the GV Folia off-season carnival and the Expoagro farm show draw big crowds.
Pico da Ibituruna is the peak that towers over Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, rising to 1,123 m, some 990 m above the Rio Doce, and visible from almost the whole city. Its Tupi name means black mountain, and the listed peak is the city's top attraction for views, trails and climbing.
Rampa de Voo Livre do Ibituruna is the hang-gliding and paragliding launch on the Pico da Ibituruna above Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, whose thermals made the city a world capital of free flight. The first hang-glider took off here in 1977, and Paragliding World Cup rounds followed.
Santa do Ibituruna is the statue of Nossa Senhora das Graças on the Pico da Ibituruna in Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, set on a chapel-pedestal built with 3.5 tonnes of iron given by Belgo-Mineira. A road was cut just to haul it up, and it was inaugurated with a Mass on 27 January 1963.
Rio Doce is the river that runs between the city of Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, and the Pico da Ibituruna, its rocky stretches adding a rushing sound to the views. Used for canoeing, it has hosted Copa Brasil de Canoagem stages, and 16th-century explorers came up it seeking precious metals.
Ilha dos Araújos is an island in the Rio Doce at Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, home to the leafy residential district of the same name. Its tree-lined promenade of about 4.5 km is one of the city's favourite places for walking, running and cycling beside the river.
Ponte do São Raimundo is the BR-116 road bridge over the Rio Doce in Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, built in the 1940s as the city's first bridge and a key link between Brazil's Southeast and Northeast. Its 447 m deck rests on an arched portal-frame structure that was seen as bold in its day.
Companhia Açucareira Rio Doce, known as CARDO, is a former sugar and alcohol mill by the Rio Doce in Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, founded in 1946 as a Belgo-Mineira subsidiary. Listed as municipal heritage on 2 April 2001, its old industrial site now hosts events and cultural shows.
Centro Cultural Nelson Mandela is a cultural centre in Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, opened by the city in February 2014 in the old Cadeia Pública, the 1942 jail whose facade is listed heritage. It holds an exhibition gallery, an auditorium, a small stage room and the municipal public library.
Catedral de Santo Antônio is the cathedral of the Diocese of Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, begun in 1924 to replace a chapel built while the EFVM railway was laid out between 1910 and 1915. Each 13 June, Saint Anthony's Day and a city holiday, processions and a solemn Mass end here.
Primeira Igreja Presbiteriana de Governador Valadares is a Presbyterian church in Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, organised in 1917 from a 1912 congregation. Its listed 1950s old temple looks like a ship, with porthole windows and a roof like an upturned boat; the new church dates from 1982.
Praça dos Pioneiros is one of the main squares of Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, a city known for its wide avenues, street trees and many squares. It regularly hosts craft and sweets fairs and cultural programmes, making it a lively stop on a walk around the centre and its shops.
Praça Serra Lima is a leafy square in central Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, named after one of the pioneers who planned the city centre. Densely shaded by oiti trees around its fountain, it shows off the wide avenues and many tree-lined squares the city is known for.
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