Campo Belo square
Coffee mansions.
Filipo Tardim — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Tiago Macedo — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Filipo Tardim — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Filipo Tardim — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Angélica Cardoso Marinho Feijó — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Filipo Tardim — CC BY-SA 4.0
The historic centre of Vassouras is the heart of the «City of Barons» in the Paraíba Valley of Rio de Janeiro state, about 116 kilometres from Rio. Vassouras became a city in 1857 and in the 1850s was briefly the world's largest coffee producer, which gave it its nickname. The national heritage institute listed its historic, urban and landscape ensemble in 1958, protecting the whole urban layout, not just individual buildings. At its centre lies the Praça Barão de Campo Belo, surrounded by mansions where coffee planters and traders lived, with the mother church on its high side. Rua Barão de Vassouras, the main axis, holds the mansions of coffee-era families, and the protected buildings include the old town hall and jail and the houses of the Baron of Vassouras and the Baron of Itambé. The town makes a quiet walk back to the days of the coffee empire, with a visit to the Casa da Hera museum.
Coffee mansions.
Main axis.
19th century.
Vassouras, Rio de Janeiro state
In the 1850s it was briefly the world's top coffee producer, home to coffee barons.
