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Pelotas is a city in the south of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, set beside the Lagoa dos Patos and famous for the grand 19th-century buildings of its historic centre, for its traditional sweets and for sights such as the Praça Coronel Pedro Osório and the Theatro Sete de Abril.
In the 19th century Pelotas grew rich on charque, the salted dried meat made in charqueadas worked by enslaved Africans. The wealth of the charqueadores paid for mansions, theatres and a public library, and the square at the heart of the centre was listed as national heritage in 2018. The city's sweet-making tradition is celebrated each year at the Fenadoce fair, held since 1986.
Visitors explore the Mercado Público, the Pelotas Cathedral with its Aldo Locatelli frescoes and the gardens of the Museu da Baronesa. On the lagoon shore, the Laranjal offers a beach on the Lagoa dos Patos, while the long ocean beach of Cassino and the Molhes da Barra lie further south near Rio Grande.
Praça Coronel Pedro Osório is the main square of the historic centre of Pelotas, ringed by the Town Hall, the Public Library, the Grande Hotel and the Theatro Sete de Abril. At its heart stands the Fonte das Nereidas, a fountain imported from France in 1875, among statues and monuments.
Theatro Sete de Abril is a theatre on the Praça Coronel Pedro Osório in Pelotas, opened in the 1830s as the first theatre built in Rio Grande do Sul, when the charque trade made the city rich. Closed in 2010 at risk of collapse, it reopened in July 2026 after a full restoration.
Mercado Público de Pelotas, also known as the Mercado Central, is the historic public market of central Pelotas, one of the landmark buildings that grew up around the Praça Coronel Pedro Osório in the city's charque-rich heyday. The Museu de Arte Leopoldo Gotuzzo stands just opposite it.
Biblioteca Pública Pelotense is the public library of Pelotas, founded in 1875 and housed since 1888 in a grand building on the Praça Coronel Pedro Osório. Its upper floor, designed by Caetano Casaretto and opened in 1915, was made for the arts, and it still hosts cultural events today.
Pelotas Cathedral, dedicated to São Francisco de Paula, is the seat of the Archdiocese of Pelotas and grew from a chapel begun in 1813. Its front with two bell towers and domes dates from the mid-19th century, and its interior was decorated by the Italian artists Aldo Locatelli and Emílio Sessa.
Catedral Anglicana do Redentor is the Anglican cathedral of Pelotas, seat of a diocese created in 1988 and one of the best-known sights of the city. It is popularly called the hairy church, because its walls are covered in creeping ivy that changes colour with the seasons of the year.
Museu da Baronesa is a city museum in an eclectic mansion of 1863 in the Areal district of Pelotas, once the home of the Antunes Maciel family. Opened in 1982, it shows clothing and furniture of local life, set in seven hectares of grounds with a French garden, ponds, a grotto and a small castle.
Museu de Arte Leopoldo Gotuzzo is the art museum of the Federal University of Pelotas, opened in 1986 in the city centre facing the Mercado Central. Its 3,000 works include paintings by Leopoldo Gotuzzo, the most important painter born in Pelotas, alongside Brazilian and foreign art.
Praia do Laranjal is the lagoon beach of Pelotas, a district on the shore of the Lagoa dos Patos with the resorts of Santo Antônio, Valverde and Barro Duro. Nearby lie marshes and sand dunes, and the fishing village of Colônia Z3, known for its artisanal shrimp catch.
Lagoa dos Patos is the largest coastal lagoon in South America, stretching 265 km along the coast of Rio Grande do Sul and covering more than 10,000 square kilometres. Pelotas lies near its western shore, and its wide waters can be enjoyed from the beaches of the Laranjal district.
Praia do Cassino is the ocean beach of Rio Grande and a day trip south of Pelotas, beginning at the Molhes da Barra about 22 km from the centre of Rio Grande. Opened as a resort in 1890 and famous for its sheer size, it was once considered the largest beach in the world.
Molhes da Barra are two stone jetties built in 1911 at Rio Grande, a day trip south of Pelotas, where the Lagoa dos Patos meets the Atlantic Ocean, each several kilometres long. Built to protect the channel to the port of Rio Grande, the western jetty marks the start of the Praia do Cassino.
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Photo: Prefeitura de Pelotas, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
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Photo: Eugenio Hansen, OFS, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Photo: Mauren da Silva Rodrigues, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
