Current Time in Vitória, Brazil

Vitória is the capital of the state of Espírito Santo in south-eastern Brazil, and one of only three Brazilian state capitals built on an island. The city occupies an island in a deep natural bay, joined to the mainland by bridges, with granite hills rising steeply behind it, mangrove channels along its edges and Atlantic beaches to the east. The setting, where forested peaks meet blue water, is among the most attractive of any Brazilian city.

About three hundred and sixty-five thousand people live within the municipality, while the wider metropolitan region, which includes Vila Velha, Serra and Cariacica, holds close to two million. Vitória's importance is above all commercial and maritime. Its port complex is one of the busiest in Latin America, exporting enormous quantities of iron ore and pellets brought by rail from the mines of Minas Gerais, along with steel, coffee, marble and granite. The city consistently records one of the highest human development indices in Brazil.

Portuguese colonists founded the settlement in 1551, moving from an earlier and more exposed site after a victory over indigenous forces, which gave the city its name, meaning victory. It served as a fortified administrative centre for a captaincy that remained poor and isolated for centuries, protected by mountains and forest. Coffee brought prosperity in the nineteenth century, and the twentieth transformed everything, as the Vitória to Minas railway, the ore terminals and the steel industry turned a quiet provincial capital into a major export gateway.

The historic centre preserves the sixteenth-century Anchieta Palace, once a Jesuit college and now the seat of the state government, along with baroque churches, the cathedral and steep colonial lanes. Across the bay, the Convento da Penha, founded in 1558 and perched dramatically on a rock above Vila Velha, is a major pilgrimage site with sweeping views. The Terceira Ponte, a long high bridge, links the two and has become the emblem of the metropolitan area. Camburi beach stretches for kilometres along the northern shore, while Curva da Jurema and the small islands in the bay offer calmer water.

Espírito Santo has a strong regional identity, and its people, called capixabas, are proud of moqueca capixaba, a fish stew cooked and served in a black clay pot handmade by artisans in the Goiabeiras district using techniques recognised as national heritage. Congo drumming groups, a lively Carnival and a substantial Italian and German immigrant heritage in the mountain towns inland add further colour.

The city is served by Eurico de Aguiar Salles Airport, by highways running north and south along the coast, and by an intercity bus system, while the passenger train to Belo Horizonte remains one of the few long-distance rail services in Brazil. The Federal University of Espírito Santo has its main campus here.

Vitória offers island scenery, colonial history, excellent food and easy access to both mountains and sea, and it deserves far more attention than it usually receives.