Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Espírito Santo. The first Italian colonists arrived here in 1875, and the last shipload of
Italian immigrants docked in Vitória in 1925. Today the town is quite large, sprawling
along the Rio Timbuí valley for several kilometres, though the compact, historical
centre lies at the western end between the rodoviária and pretty
Praça Augusto Ruschi
,
full of flowers, trees and fluttering hummingbirds. Walking from the bus station to the
square you'll pass the small tourist centre and
Galeria Artesanto
(with cheap bottles of
local wine,
cachaça
and even grappa).
2
Igreja Matriz
Rua Coronel Bonfim • Mon-Fri & Sun 8am-5pm, Sat 8am-noon • Free •
T
27 3259 1662
The town's Italian-influenced, blue-striped
Igreja Matriz
was completed with roundels and
cupola in 1906. The all-blue interior is quite plain, but the names of the first colonists are
engraved on a plaque on its outside wall. The street adjacent to the church is lined with
old houses built in the 1920s, local bars and decent Italian restaurants.
Casa de Virgílio Lambert
Rua São Lourenço • Wed-Sun 9-11am & 12.30-5pm • R$2 •
T
27 3259 1611
A short walk up Rua São Lourenço from the Igreja Matriz you'll see the surviving
two-storey wattle-and-daub houses put up by the first Italian immigrants; oldest of all is
the
Casa de Virgílio Lambert
, a farmhouse built around 1876 and now a simple museum.
Museu Mello Leitão
Av José Ruschi 4 • Tues-Sun 8am-5pm • Free •
T
27 3259 1182,
W
museudebiologiamelloleitao.gov.br
Santa Teresa is full of flowers, and of hummingbirds feeding off them, and in the early
twentieth century they aroused the interest of one of the first generation of Italians to be
born here,
Augusto Ruschi
. He turned a childhood fascination into a lifetime of study,
becoming a pioneering natural scientist and ecologist decades before it was fashionable,
and ultimately founded the
Museu Mello Leitão
(named in tribute to a former teacher)
in 1949 around his home, now the museum administrative centre (Ruschi lived here
from 1937 till his death). Ruschi died in 1986, at the age of 71, after being poisoned by
the secretions of a tree frog he collected on one of his many expeditions into the forest.
You won't learn much about Ruschi's remarkable life at the museum, which does
display a few old photos in one of its exhibition halls (Portuguese labels only), but
which is essentially a small
botanical garden
, replete with rather sad-looking cages of
parrots, marmosets, an aviary, a snake house and even a hall of Ruschi's dusty stuffed-
bird and animal collection. What makes a trip really worthwhile, however, is the
observação de beija-flores
, a mesmerizing deck of bird feeders swarming with
hummingbirds
, oblivious to the humans watching them. Ruschi actually specialized in
the study of hummingbirds, becoming the world's leading expert in the field and, in
the later years of his life, was almost single-handedly responsible for galvanizing the
state government into action to protect the exceptional beauty of the interior of
Espírito Santo; that so much forest remains is due in no small measure to him.
Cachaça da Mata
Rodovia Santa Teresa, Itarana, Km 5 (Vale de São Lourenço) • Tues-Sun 9am-5pm; call ahead to check •
T
27 3225 1739,
W
damata.com.br
Some 5km west of town on the road towards Santa Maria,
Cachaça da Mata
is the
producer of the best
cachaça
in Espírito Santo and a fascinating place to visit, its
traditional buildings and furnaces redolent of the region's early years. The best time to
come here is during the September-to-December harvest, during which you can see every
stage of the distilling process, but visitors are welcome to tastings throughout the year.
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION
SANTA TERESA
By bus
The rodoviária (
T
27 3259 1300) lies at the western
end of town on Rua Ricardo Pasolini, an easy walk from
most of the sights; Lírio dos Valles (
W
viacaoliriodosvales
.com.br) runs the most useful buses.
