Teresópolis () is a Brazilian

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

located in the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, in a mountainous region known as ''Região Serrana''. The

Serra dos Órgãos National Park Serra (Latin for "saw") may refer to: People and fictional characters * Serra (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Serra (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Serra (footballer), Portuguese footballer Jos� ...

lies partly within the city limits. The city is known as the home of the

Brazil national football team The Brazil national football team (), nicknamed ''Seleção Canarinho'' ("Canary Squad", after their bright yellow jersey), represents Brazil in men's international Association football, football and is administered by the Brazilian Football Co ...

, since it hosts CBF's training ground at Granja Comary.

History

Before the arrival of the Portuguese to the area where Teresópolis lies today, in the 16th century, it was inhabited by indigenous Brazilians. In the following centuries, Portuguese started buying land there. The region was also occupied by a

quilombo A ''quilombo'' (); from the Kimbundu word , ) is a Brazilian hinterland town, settlement founded by people of Afro-Brazilians, African origin, and others sometimes called Carabali. Most of the inhabitants of quilombos, called quilombolas, were ...

, formed by runaway slaves coming from sugar cane plantations near

. In 1821, English citizen George March (born and raised in Portugal) established a farm there, which later became the most important settlement along the way between the court, in Rio de Janeiro, and the territory of Gerais (nowadays, the state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

), which led to the great improvement of agriculture and cattle raising. The Brazilian imperial family was much impressed by the natural beauty and the climate of the region, which developed slowly so that in 1855 the settlement became a village that was named Freguesia de Santo Antonio de Paquequer. The further development of the village was due to the traders that came from Minas Gerais in the way to Rio de Janeiro, and used the region as a resting stop. Finally, on July 6, 1891, the village became a municipality that was named Teresópolis ("city of Teresa"), after Empress Teresa Cristina, wife of Emperor Pedro II. The uncontrolled growth of Teresópolis and other cities of the mountainous region near Rio de Janeiro led to the construction of a great number of houses in mountainous terrain or on the banks of rivers. This fact, together with a 24-hour rainfall that exceeded what was expected for the entire month, caused a series of floods and mudslides in January 2011. More than 400 people died and thousands lost their houses in the event, which is considered the worst weather-related tragedy in Brazilian history. .

Geography

According to the 2010 Brazilian Census, the city has a population of 163,746 within a land area of 770,6 km2. The Serra dos Órgãos National Park is in the vicinity. Its predominant vegetation belongs to the Atlantic Forest type. The city is surrounded by forests and by well-known summits or peaks, because of which the city is known as the national capital of mountaineering. The most famous peaks are: * Peak of Pedra do Sino – * Peak of Pedra do Açu – * Peak of Agulha do Diabo – * Peak of Nariz do Frade – * Peak of Dedo de Deus – * Peak of Pedra da Ermitage – * Peak of Dedo de Nossa Senhora – Of these, Dedo de Deus ("God's finger") is the most famous. The municipality contains the Montanhas de Teresópolis Municipal Nature Park, created in 2009 to protect a large area of Atlantic Forest. The municipality contained the Floresta do Jacarandá Environmental Protection Area, but this was extinguished in 2013. It contains the Bacia dos Frades Environmental Protection Area, created in 1990. The municipality contains 20% of the Três Picos State Park, created in 2002. It contains part of the

Central Rio de Janeiro Atlantic Forest Mosaic The Central Rio de Janeiro Atlantic Forest Mosaic () is a Protected area mosaic (Brazil), protected area mosaic in the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The mosaic is inland, to the east of the city of Rio de Janeiro. Histor ...

of conservation units, created in 2006.

Climate

Teresópolis features a

subtropical highland climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring c ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: Cfb), with relatively cold and dry winters and mild and wet summers. The annual average temperature is 16 °C/60.8 °F. Teresópolis has one of the mildest climates in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and this is one reason why the area has been chosen as

Brazilian Football Confederation The Brazilian Football Confederation (, CBF) is the governing body of football in Brazil. It was founded on Monday, 8 June 1914, as , and renamed Confederação Brasileira de Desportos in 1916. The football confederation, as known today, sepa ...

's training headquarters, hosting the

, located in Granja Comary.

Religion

According to data from the 2010 census, the municipal population is composed of

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

(42.3%),

Evangelicals Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian g ...

(34.0%), people without religion (16.7%), Spiritists (2.8%) and 4.1% are divided between other religions. 1Regarding the total number of members of religious institutions in 2010, according to their creed:

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

(total of 69,157 members) — Roman Apostolic (68,732 members), Brazilian Apostolic (406 members) and Orthodox Catholic (159 members);

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

(total of 55,675 members) — Evangelical Mission (11,387 members),

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

(133 members),

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

(483 members),

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

(2,576 members),

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

(7,437 members),

Congregational Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...

(63 members),

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbat ...

(696 members), Assembly of God (10,344 members), Christian Congregation (261 members), Brazil for Christ (186 members), Foursquare (219 members), Universal Kingdom of God (1,166 members), House of Blessing (64 members), God Is Love (260 members), Christian Maranatha (75 members), New Life (65 members), Evangelical Community (34 members),

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

(10,196 members), Undetermined Evangelical (21,418 members), Other Christian religions (2,180 members);

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

(total of 352 members);

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

(total of 1,939 members);

Spiritism Spiritism may refer to: Religion * Espiritismo, a Latin American and Caribbean belief that evolved and less evolved spirits can affect health, luck and other aspects of human life * Kardecist spiritism, a new religious movement established in ...

(total of 4,662 members);

Spiritualism Spiritualism may refer to: * Spiritual church movement, a group of Spiritualist churches and denominations historically based in the African-American community * Spiritualism (beliefs), a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at leas ...

(total of 94 members);

Umbanda Umbanda () is a religion that emerged in Brazil during the 1920s. Deriving largely from Kardecist spiritism, Spiritism, it also combines elements from African diasporic religions, Afro-Brazilian traditions like Candomblé as well as Roman Catho ...

(total of 482 members);

Candomblé Candomblé () is an African diaspora religions, African diasporic religion that developed in Brazil during the 19th century. It arose through a process of syncretism between several of the traditional religions of West and Central Africa, especi ...

(total of 40 members);

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

(total of 313 members);

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

(total of 18 members);

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

(total of 201 members); New Eastern religions (total of 201 members) — World Church of Messiah (112 members), Others (88 members);

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

(total of 9 members); Esoteric traditions (total of 124 members); Indigenous traditions (total of 70 members); No religion (total of 27,383) — No religion (declared by 24,706),

Atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the Existence of God, existence of Deity, deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the ...

(declared by 2,550) and

Agnosticism Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either unknowable in principle or unknown in fact. (page 56 in 1967 edition) It can also mean an apathy towards such religious belief and refer t ...

(declared by 127); Undetermined or poorly defined religiosity (total of 570).

Divisions

* District of Teresópolis

Gallery

File:Grimm 1885, Vista de Teresópolis.jpg, Teresópolis in 1885 File:Teresópolis, vista parcial.jpg, Partial view of the municipality File:HPIM0846.jpg, ''Torres de Bonsucesso'' File:Amanhecer no Hercules --.jpg,

File:FOTOREPORTERDSCF2211.jpg, Teresópolis during the January 2011 Rio de Janeiro floods and mudslides, which killed 382 people in the municipality and at least 610 altogether File:Teresopolis-DedoDeus1.jpg, God's Finger File:Teresopolis-Agulha do Diabo.jpg, Devil's Needle File:Teresopolis-Comary2.jpg, Lake Comary File:Teresopolis-Comary1.jpg, Granja Comary, The Brazilian Football Confederation's training ground File:Teresopolis-Comary.jpg, Lake houses File:Igreja de Santo Antônio, Teresópolis.jpg, Santo Antônio Church. It is dedicated to

Saint Anthony of Padua Anthony of Padua, OFM, (; ; ) or Anthony of Lisbon (; ; ; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese Catholic priest and member of the Order of Friars Minor. Anthony was born and raised by a wealth ...

File:Serra dos ÓrgãosBrazil.jpg,

Serra do Mar The Serra do Mar (; ) is a system of mountain ranges and escarpments in Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeastern Brazil. Geography The Serra do Mar runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean coast from the state of Espírito Santo to southern Santa Ca ...

File:Granja comary Cisne - Escalavrado e Dedo De Deus ao fundo -Teresópolis.jpg, Black swan on Lake Comary File:Higino Palace Hotel, Teresópolis.jpg, Higino Hotel File:Rodovia Rio-Teresópolis (BR-116) - panoramio.jpg, Rio-Teresópolis highway (stretch of BR-116) connecting Greater Rio de Janeiro to Teresópolis File:Estátua da Imperatriz Tereza Cristina, Teresópolis.jpg, Empress Teresa Cristina statue at the entrance of the municipality. Teresópolis was named in her honor. File:Fazenda Itatyba e suas cores.jpg, A

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

in the rural area of Teresópolis

Sister cities

Teresópolis'

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there ar ...

are: *

References

External links

Official

City Hall (Prefeitura Municipal)

Municipal Legislative Chamber (Câmara Municipal)

Tourism

Visite Teresópolis - Tourism, Information, news, photos...

Teresopolis.com.br - Complete guide to the city, Information, news, and photos

TeresopolisOn - Information, news, and photos

Portal Terê - Complete guide to the city
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teresopolis 1891 establishments in Brazil Populated places established in 1891 Municipalities in Rio de Janeiro (state)