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Vitória is the island capital of Espírito Santo, Brazil, famous for its bay, its Jesuit-founded old town and the clay pans of the Goiabeiras potters. Its top sights are the Palácio Anchieta, the neo-Gothic Catedral Metropolitana, the Theatro Carlos Gomes, Praia de Camburi and the potters of Goiabeiras.
Portuguese settlers moved the captaincy's capital here from Vila Velha after a victory over the Goitacá and Aimoré peoples on 8 September 1551, naming the island town Vila da Vitória. Jesuits began their college and church that same year, and from 1894 coffee wealth paid for landfills, stairways and wide avenues that reshaped the island.
With about 340,000 people, Vitória is the heart of a metropolis of some 2 million and covers a main island, 34 smaller islands and a mainland strip, 97 km2 in all. It ranks among the Brazilian cities with the highest human development, and its moqueca capixaba is served in the Goiabeiras potters' clay pans.
Palácio Anchieta is the seat of the Espírito Santo state government in Vitória, facing the port at the entrance to the Cidade Alta, and one of the oldest seats of government in Brazil. It grew from the Jesuit college and church begun in 1551, where José de Anchieta served and has a symbolic tomb.
Catedral Metropolitana de Vitória is the neo-Gothic cathedral of Vitória, Espírito Santo, built from about 1920 to 1970 on the site of the town's first church of 1550, seen as the city's marco zero. Inspired by Cologne Cathedral, it is ringed by stained glass by Cesar Formenti and his son.
Theatro Carlos Gomes is the historic theatre on Praça Costa Pereira in central Vitória, Espírito Santo, opened on 5 January 1927. Designed by André Carloni and inspired by La Scala, it is mainly neoclassical, with a ceiling painted by Homero Massena, and has been closed for restoration since 2017.
Escadaria Maria Ortiz is a stairway in central Vitória, Espírito Santo, on the old Pelourinho slope where in 1625 young Maria Ortiz threw boiling water on Dutch raiders led by Piet Heyn and rallied the townsfolk. Rebuilt as a balustraded stairway in 1924, it was restored again in 2018.
Parque Moscoso is the oldest municipal park of Vitória, Espírito Santo, opened in 1912 in the city centre and named after provincial president Henrique Moscoso. Its 24,000 m2 hold a fish lake with two islands, bridges, avenues of Atlantic Forest trees and a listed band shell for shows.
Parque Estadual da Fonte Grande is a 260-hectare state park in the central hills of Vitória island, Espírito Santo, created in 1986 to protect the last large stretch of Atlantic Forest slopes. Springs such as São Benedito dot its hills, which rise to 308.8 m, home to marmosets and orchids.
Parque Pedra da Cebola is a 100,005 m2 municipal park in Vitória, Espírito Santo, between Jardim da Penha and Mata da Praia, named after an onion-shaped rock that is a symbol of the city. Set in restinga vegetation, it has a meditation house, an oriental garden and a lookout over a climbing wall.
Museu Solar Monjardim is a house museum in Vitória, Espírito Santo, in the colonial seat of the old Jucutuquara farm, begun in the 1780s and listed as national heritage in 1940. Run by Ibram, its 4,000 or so pieces recreate the home of a wealthy 19th-century rural family.
Praia de Camburi is the longest beach in Vitória, Espírito Santo, a 6 km stretch on the mainland lined by the Avenida Dante Michelini seafront and a busy promenade. It hosts beach volleyball and sailing events, and the Pier de Iemanjá, with a 1988 statue of the sea queen, gives wide views.
Ilha do Boi is an island district of Vitória, Espírito Santo, named after the oxen kept there in colonial times and joined to Vitória island by landfill in the 1970s, making it an island in name only. Its two small, busy beaches, Praia da Direita and Praia da Esquerda, also draw marine researchers.
Paneleiras de Goiabeiras are the potters of Goiabeiras Velha in Vitória, Espírito Santo, who shape, fire and dye clay pans with mangrove bark for the classic moqueca capixaba. Rooted in Tupi-Guarani and Una pottery traditions, their craft was the first item IPHAN registered as intangible heritage.
Praça do Papa is a 67,000 m2 seafront esplanade in the Enseada do Suá district of Vitória, Espírito Santo, opened in 2008 with panoramic views over Vitória Bay. It is named for Pope John Paul II, who said Mass here in 1991, when the open ground was still used for shows and fairs.
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