Qualla: Vila Velha

Vila Velha: Introduction

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit HVL, CC BY 4.0. On May 23, 1535 - Pentecost Sunday - Vasco Fernandes Coutinho stepped off the caravel Glória with 60 men and founded the Vila do Espírito Santo on a small beach the Tupiniquim called Piratininga. He named his settlement for the Holy Spirit because it was Pentecost, and for sixteen years it served as the capital of his captaincy. Then French raids, Dutch attacks, and persistent pressure from three distinct indigenous peoples - the Goitacá, Aimoré, and Tupiniquim - convinced the Portuguese to move the capital in 1551 across the bay to an easier-to-defend island. The old village kept its site, lost its rank, and in 1890 finally took the name that told the truth: Vila Velha. Old Village.

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Image: HVL | CC BY 4.0

Vila Velha: Three Peoples, One Coast

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Romerito Pontes from São Carlos, CC BY 2.0. When Coutinho arrived, the land was already contested. The Goitacá held the south, the Aimoré ranged through the interior, and the Tupiniquim occupied the north. These were not a single people waiting to be displaced but three distinct nations with their own quarrels, their own t...

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Image: Romerito Pontes from São Carlos | CC BY 2.0

Vila Velha: The Convent on the Hill

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit HVL, CC BY 4.0. Perched on a granite outcrop overlooking the coast, the Penha Convent was constructed between the 16th and 17th centuries and remains one of Espírito Santo's most recognized landmarks. The National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage designated it a national cultural heri...

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Image: HVL | CC BY 4.0

Vila Velha: Crossing the Bridge

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Paul R. Burley, CC BY-SA 4.0. Serious economic growth didn't arrive until the late 1920s, when the Florentino Ávidos Bridge finally connected Vila Velha to Vitória. Before the bridge, the bay kept the old capital isolated. After it, Vila Velha began absorbing the overflow of a capital that was running out of ...

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Image: Paul R. Burley | CC BY-SA 4.0

Vila Velha: Thirty-Two Kilometers of Beach

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Rômulo Gama Ferreira from Vitória-ES, CC BY 2.0. Vila Velha's coastline runs 32 kilometers along the Atlantic, almost entirely lined with beaches. Praia da Costa, Itapoã, and Itaparica are the most developed stretches, drawing tourists from across Brazil during the summer months. The Jucu River, which begins up in the mountains...

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Image: Rômulo Gama Ferreira from Vitória-ES | CC BY 2.0

Vila Velha: Chocolate and Ceremony

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Chico, CC BY-SA 3.0. Chocolates Garoto, founded locally in 1929, is one of Vila Velha's oldest industries and the focus of an annual Chocolate Festival that draws visitors who come for the candy and stay for the coastline. Between the Festa da Penha in the late summer months and the Jesus Vida Verão ...

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Image: Chico | CC BY-SA 3.0