Bay views
And Third Bridge.
Alexson Scheppa Peisino — Public domain · Alexson Scheppa Peisino — Public domain · Alexson Scheppa Peisino — Public domain · Tedd Santana — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Alexson Scheppa Peisino — Public domain · MarcoXavier2005 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Alexson Scheppa Peisino — Public domain
The Morro do Moreno is a 184-metre hill near the centre of Vila Velha, next to Vitória. Together with the neighbouring hill crowned by the Penha convent, it is one of the city's postcards, seen by everyone crossing the Third Bridge from Vitória to Vila Velha, and it was declared a natural monument of the town in 2021. In the early days of Portuguese colonisation it was known as the Monte de João Moreno, as shown on the oldest map of the Espírito Santo area, drawn around 1590 by the Portuguese cartographer Luís Teixeira; no one knows exactly who João Moreno was. The hill played an important part in defending the captaincy alongside the forts built at the entrance of Vitória Bay, and in one famous episode it was set on fire to frighten off foreign raiders led by the English privateer Thomas Cavendish. Today people walk up it for wide views over the bay, the island and the beaches.
And Third Bridge.
Old history.
At the foot.
Near central Vila Velha, Espírito Santo
Farol de Santa LuziaThe Santa Luzia Lighthouse stands in the Praia da Costa district of Vila Velha, 13 minutes walk4.7
Penha ConventPenha Convent is a historic religious house perched on a high hill in Vila Velha13 minutes walk4.8
Terceira Ponte (Third Bridge)The «Third Bridge», officially the Deputado Darcy Castello de Mendonça Bridge, i14 minutes walk4.6From the «Monte de João Moreno» on early colonial maps around 1590.