Current Time in Viamão, Brazil

Viamão lies in the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil, immediately east of the state capital Porto Alegre and forming part of its metropolitan region. It is by far the largest municipality in that region by area, reaching from suburban districts on the edge of the capital across open pasture and rolling hills to the shores of the Guaíba and the northern end of the Patos Lagoon. The subtropical climate is the mildest in Brazil, with warm summers, genuinely cool winters and rain distributed evenly through the year.

Around two hundred and forty thousand people live in Viamão. The population is concentrated in the western districts nearest Porto Alegre, from which large numbers commute daily, while the eastern two thirds of the municipality remain rural, given over to cattle, rice, dairy farming, horticulture and forestry.

Viamão is one of the oldest settlements in Rio Grande do Sul. It grew in the eighteenth century around a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Conception, serving cattle drovers moving herds northward along the colonial routes, and between 1763 and 1773 it served as the capital of the captaincy after Portuguese forces lost the town of Rio Grande to Spain. The seat of government was later transferred to Porto Alegre, and Viamão settled into the role of a rural municipality, but the mother church, rebuilt in the eighteenth century, and several old farmhouses recall that early period.

The outstanding attraction is Itapuã State Park, at the far southeastern corner of the municipality, where the Guaíba meets the Patos Lagoon. Granite hills covered in forest drop to freshwater beaches, and the park protects capybaras, howler monkeys, otters, deer and an exceptional variety of birds. Access is controlled to protect the environment, and guided walks and boat trips lead to viewpoints over the lagoon and to a lighthouse on the point. It is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful protected areas in southern Brazil.

Other places of interest include the Saint Hilaire Park, named after the French naturalist who travelled the province in the nineteenth century, the horse racing and equestrian traditions of the countryside, the rural roads leading to farm restaurants serving churrasco, and the beaches of the Cidreira coast reached by the highway that crosses the municipality towards the Atlantic.

Gaúcho culture is strong here, expressed in the traditionalist centres where music, dance and the drinking of chimarrão tea are practised, in rodeos and in the celebrations of Farroupilha Week each September.

Transport depends on buses linking the districts to Porto Alegre, on the metropolitan train system reached from neighbouring municipalities and on the RS 040 highway to the coast. Salgado Filho International Airport is about half an hour away.

Educational institutions include a state university campus, teacher training colleges and technical schools, with the large universities of Porto Alegre nearby.

Viamão is important as one of the historic cradles of Rio Grande do Sul and appealing for its combination of accessible countryside, gaúcho tradition and the protected wilderness of Itapuã.