Helmet stone
Odd shape.
Eduardo Kenji — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Eduardo Kenji — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marinelson Almeida - Traveling through Brazil from Niteroi, Brasil — CC BY 2.0 · Marinelson Almeida - Traveling through Brazil from Niteroi, Brasil — CC BY 2.0 · Claudio JJ — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Eduardo Kenji — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ruy Carvalho — CC BY-SA 3.0
Lajedo de Pai Mateus is a broad rock pavement in the countryside of Cabaceiras in Paraíba's Cariri region, covering about 1.5 square kilometres and scattered with some hundred huge rounded boulders, some weighing up to forty-five tonnes, amid sparse caatinga scrub. This landscape was shaped over millions of years as the rock wore away along natural cracks and under the sharp swing between day and night temperatures. The best-known boulder is the Pedra do Capacete, the «helmet stone», for its odd shape, and some rocks bear paintings attributed by researchers to the Cariri people who lived in the area. Legend has it that Pai Mateus was a hermit healer who lived here around the eighteenth century and was sought out by the sick. The site is about 25 kilometres from central Cabaceiras along a dirt road, on private land, and visits are usually guided. Sunset is the finest moment, when the rocks glow orange, and Cabaceiras itself is known as a location for many Brazilian films.
Odd shape.
Cariri heritage.
Glowing rocks.
Rural Cabaceiras, Cariri region, Paraíba
The site is on private land and visits are usually arranged with a local guide.