Current Time in Ponta Grossa, Brazil

Ponta Grossa lies in the state of Paraná in southern Brazil, about a hundred and ten kilometres northwest of the state capital Curitiba. The city stands at almost a thousand metres above sea level in the region known as the Campos Gerais, a landscape of open grassland, gallery forest and dramatic sandstone escarpments that marks the edge of the second plateau of Paraná. At this altitude the subtropical climate is noticeably cool, with mild summers and winters that can bring frost.

Approximately three hundred and sixty thousand people live in Ponta Grossa, making it one of the largest cities in the state. It is an important centre for agribusiness and logistics, processing soya, wheat and maize from the surrounding farmland, and it hosts large malting, milling, paper, packaging and food factories. Its historic nickname, the Princess of the Fields, reflects its position as the natural capital of the Campos Gerais.

The town grew from a stopping place on the old cattle droving route along which mules and oxen were driven from Rio Grande do Sul to the markets of Sorocaba in São Paulo. It was raised to municipal status in the middle of the nineteenth century and expanded rapidly when the railway arrived, becoming the most important rail junction in Paraná, a role it still plays for freight moving to the port of Paranaguá. Immigration brought German, Polish, Ukrainian, Italian, Syrian and Lebanese families, and their churches, clubs and food remain part of local life. The Ukrainian and Polish communities in particular have left a strong mark on the region.

The outstanding attraction is Vila Velha State Park, a short distance from the city, where wind and water have carved blocks of Devonian sandstone into a forest of towers, arches and mushroom shapes. The best known formation resembles a goblet and has become the symbol of the park. Nearby are the furnas, deep circular shafts filled with water and reached by a lift, and the Lagoa Dourada. Other natural sites in the area include the Buraco do Padre with its waterfall inside a rock chamber, the Guartelá canyon and numerous caves.

In the city itself the Praça Barão do Rio Branco, the Santo Antônio cathedral, the old railway station, the municipal theatre and the Campos Gerais Museum are the main landmarks. There is an active calendar of festivals, including celebrations of the immigrant communities and a lively regional food scene built around barbecue and pine nuts from the araucaria forests.

The State University of Ponta Grossa is a substantial institution with faculties in medicine, engineering and the humanities, and there is also a campus of the Federal Technological University of Paraná, so the city has a considerable student population.

Ponta Grossa is important as an industrial and agricultural hub and popular with visitors above all for the extraordinary rock formations of Vila Velha.