Experience the best of Vitória

Vitória, the capital of Espírito Santo state, is built largely on an island in a sheltered bay on the Atlantic coast of south-eastern Brazil, joined to the mainland by bridges. It was founded in the sixteenth century, and the old centre on the hillside holds the Anchieta Palace, the seat of the state government, on the site of a former Jesuit college, and the cathedral.

Across the bay, the Convento da Penha, a Franciscan convent from 1558 perched on a rock above Vila Velha, is a pilgrimage site with views along the coast. In Vitória, Parque Moscoso is a leafy park in the centre, the Teatro Carlos Gomes is a theatre from the 1920s, and the Praia do Canto district has restaurants and promenades beside the sea. Beaches stretch south towards Guarapari.

Moqueca capixaba, a fish stew of tomato, onion, coriander and annatto, is cooked in a black clay pot from Goiabeiras, where women potters have made the pots for generations. Torta capixaba, a seafood pie, is eaten at Easter.