Santa Teresa

Santa Teresa Essentials

Santa Teresa, Brazil's first Italian settlement, preserves its heritage through 19th-century architecture and traditional cuisine. Located in the mountainous Atlantic Forest, the town is a hub for biodiversity research, centered around the Mello Leitão Museum founded by naturalist Augusto Ruschi. Visitors can explore high-altitude viewpoints like Vale do Canaã and Goiapaba-Açu, which offer vistas of the rugged landscape, or visit the numerous waterfalls and bird sanctuaries that earned the region its reputation as the land of hummingbirds.