Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Catedral Metropolitana
Praça Dom Luiz Scortegagna • Tues-Sun 9am-5pm • Free •
T
27 3223 0590
Dominating the largely dull, modern concrete buildings on Praça Dom Luiz
Scortegagna, the vast Neogothic
Catedral Metropolitana
was modelled in part on
Cologne Cathedral, though there are also Art Nouveau influences in its lattice-work
towers. Work on the cathedral began in 1920 on the site of the city's first church
(1550), and was only completed in 1970. Inside, the main attraction is the stained
glass, a wonderfully luminous series of works completed from 1933 to 1943
(the image of St Cecilia over the entrance is most famous), and touched off with a
more modern display over the altar (installed in 2013).
2
Praça Costa Pereira
he
centro histórico
is most pleasant square is shaded
Praça Costa Pereira
, a busy
pedestrian intersection. There are a number of distinguished-looking buildings
surrounding the
praça
, the most notable being the
Teatro Carlos Gomes
, a replica of
La Scala in Milan, built between 1925 and 1927 when the rebuilding of Vitória was
at its height - the plaza itself was only opened in 1912 and enlarged in 1924.
Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Rosário
Rua do Rosário (off Rua Pereira Pinto) • Tues-Sun 9am-5pm • Free
To reach the whitewashed
Igreja
de Nossa Senhora do Rosário
you need to walk up a
once-elegant flight of steps, now sprayed with gra
ti, up a steep hillside off Rua do
Rosário. The church dates back to 1765 when it was built by slaves and free Afro-
Brazilians in just two years (Nossa Senhora do Rosário was the apparition of Mary
thought to protect slaves), but the elegant facade you see today was mostly constructed
in the nineteenth century. Its plain interior houses an impressive Baroque altar, while
original ossuaries line the side corridor.
Museu de Arte do Espírito Santo
Av Jerônimo Monteiro 631 • Tues-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat & Sun 10am-5pm • Free •
T
27 3132 8393
Vitória's
Museu de Arte do Espírito Santo
is housed in another historic gem on the edge
of the
centro histórico
, this time the government urban planning of
ce completed in
1925. Exhibits rotate, usually with a contemporary theme - note that the museum can
be closed in between installations.
Museu Ferroviário
Estrada de Ferro Vitória a Minas (Rua Vila Isabel), Argolas • Tues-Fri 8am-5pm, Sat & Sun 10am-6pm • Free •
T
27 3333 2484,
W
museuvale.com • Buses #516, #559, #572, #573, #574 and #597 all run here
Directly across the
baía
from downtown Vitória is the fascinating
Museu Ferroviário
.
The museum was created by Vale - an international mining and industrial
conglomerate hugely important to the economy of Espírito Santo - and is housed in
a former train station built in 1927. Focusing on the history of the
Vitória-to-Minas
railway
, constructed in the early twentieth century to carry iron ore to the coast from
the interior, the exhibits include a steam engine and carriages, a model railway and
maps, documents, photographs and company memorabilia relating to the 664km line.
The museum is also the only public venue in Vitória where important works of
modern
and contemporary art
are shown, and is noted for excellent exhibitions curated on
themes loosely linked with the Brazilian mining industry, metallurgy or railways.
There's also a pleasant
café
, in a converted railway carriage positioned alongside the
bay, where snacks and full meals are served.
The beaches
Come evening and at weekends, old Vitória is pretty well deserted and the action shifts
to the middle-class
beach districts
, where all of the best shops, hotels and restaurants
