The main house
Rammed earth.
Vladimir Benincasa / Grupo de Pesquisa Patrimônio, Cidades e Territórios — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Vladimir Benincasa / Grupo de Pesquisa Patrimônio, Cidades e Territórios — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Vladimir Benincasa / Grupo de Pesquisa Patrimônio, Cidades e Territórios — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Vladimir Benincasa / Grupo de Pesquisa Patrimônio, Cidades e Territórios — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Vladimir Benincasa / Grupo de Pesquisa Patrimônio, Cidades e Territórios — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Vladimir Benincasa / Grupo de Pesquisa Patrimônio, Cidades e Territórios — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Vladimir Benincasa / Grupo de Pesquisa Patrimônio, Cidades e Territórios — CC BY-SA 4.0
Fazenda Capoava is a historic farm in the countryside of Itu, São Paulo state, whose origins go back to around 1750, when the land was a royal grant for developing western São Paulo in the sugar era. Today it is a farm hotel, one of the best known in the state's interior. The land passed through several owners, and in 1881 it was sold and renamed «Fazenda Japão», «Japan Farm», because it was so far from everything, in the period of transition from enslaved labour to Italian immigrant workers. Coffee was grown here until 1942, followed by cattle ranching. In 2000 part of the estate was sold and turned into a hotel, taking back its old eighteenth-century name, Capoava. The main house keeps the plain architecture of the bandeirante era, with rammed-earth walls about seventy centimetres thick, alongside the old quarters of the house servants, the homes of Italian settlers, and the coffee mill with its water wheel. A stay or a day visit is a way to discover the history of farms in rural São Paulo, close to the historic town of Itu.
Rammed earth.
And water wheel.
Immigration history.
Countryside of Itu, São Paulo state
Day visits exist by advance booking; check the terms.