Torres is a city on the coast of south

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 ...

in the state of

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

. The city has a population of approximately 40,000 inhabitants, of which 10,000 live in rural zones, but in summer the number of inhabitants reaches 300,000.

History

The municipality's name derives from the three basalt towers standing in the ocean, giving the beach its distinctive appearance. On March 21, 1878, by provincial law, Torres became a municipality. Today, with a population of 33,686 permanent inhabitants, Torres is an important tourist centre, with more than fifty hotels, restaurants and bars. Local cuisine is influenced by international and Mediterranean cuisine, with seafood prevailing.

Geography

Unlike the rest of the state's coast, which is uninterrupted sandy beach, Torres boasts four high rocky formations standing in the sea. These vertical columns are almost 40 meters high and contain several caves created by the action of the waves over the years, locally called ''furnas''. These rocky formations rise up from the sea creating an impressive scenario.

Climate

The

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

in Torres is

humid subtropical A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between la ...

( ''Cfa''). Summers are warm and the hottest month is February, with an average temperature of 23 °C (73.4 °F). Winters are cool and the coldest month is July, with an average temperature of 15 °C (59 °F). The wettest month is March, with 142 mm (5.6 in) of precipitation. The average annual temperature in the city is 19 °C (66.2 °F) and the average annual precipitation is 1,390 mm (54.72 in), with rain regularly falling all year long. On March 28, 2004, the Hurricane Catarina hit Torres with winds of about 150 km/h causing extensive damage. This was a rare event for the region.

Sites of interest

The municipality contains the Guarita State Park, created in 1971 to protect a headland on the Atlantic Ocean. It also contains the Itapeva State Park, created in 2002 to protect an area of dunes, '' restinga'' and meadows. Tourists may visit the

Ilha dos Lobos Ilha dos Lobos is a small island and wildlife refuge on the Atlantic coast of Torres, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Location Ilha dos Lobos is about offshore from the Praia Grande of the coastal city of Torres on the northern shore of the state ...

(''Island of the Wolves''), which is located directly in front of the Praia Grande beach, approximately 1700 meters off shore. Hiking is possible in the nearby mountains of the

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 ...

. Itapeva Beach is 6 km away, located beyond Guarita park. It takes its name from Itapeva hill. ''Itapeva'' in Tupi–Guarani means "crushed stone". Guarita Beach is located in Guarita Park, surrounded by the towers "Centro" – Centre -, "Sul" – South -, and Guarita after which the park was named. Furnas Hill is the largest of the towers. It is also called torre ''do Meio'' – Middle tower. It lies six hundred meters away from the city lighthouse. Cal beach lies between them. Cal beach is eight hundred meters long; it is one of the preferred places for surfing practice. Its name derives from the ovens located here until 1940 used to heat shells for the lime. Prainha beach (or do meio beach) is six hundred meters long. It has a rocky soil. Praia Grande beach is 2 km long; it is preferred for sea bathing and sports such as

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

kitesurfing Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, snow, sand, or other surface. It combines the aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snow ...

and several others. Outdoor shows are also organized on Praia Grande beach.

Transportation

Torres is served by Torres Airport.

Surfing

Rocky mountains and other geological formations provide natural protection from strong winds and create good shape for the sea bottom, creating ideal surfing conditions. The best season for surfing is winter (May–September), with waves up to 3 meters high and cold water. During the summer the waves are smaller and the northeast wind usually jeopardizes surfing conditions. It is possible to practice

Tow-in surfing Tow-in surfing is a surfing technique which uses artificial assistance to allow the surfer to catch faster-moving waves than was traditionally possible when paddling by hand. Tow-in surfing was invented by surfers who wanted to catch big waves ...

in a point break near

and waves as high as 10 meters have been registered there; however, access is difficult and good conditions are rare.

Hot air ballooning

Currently, Brazil is the Latin American country with the largest number of hot air balloons and hot air balloonists. There are about 45 hot air balloons for 30 registered

pilots An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they are ...

divided into three hot air ballooning

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Club (magazine), ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands a ...

. These are located in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

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 ...

and

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

. Since 1989, Torres has sponsored an annual

hot air balloon festival Hot air balloon festivals are held annually in many places throughout the year, allowing hot air balloons operators to gather- as well as for the general public- to participate in various activities.They can include races; evening "night glows", ...

, and in 1995, during its seventh season, the city gained the title of "Brazilian Capital of Hot Air Ballooning".

Gallery

File:Igreja são domingos - torres22.jpg, Church of St. Dominicus File:Panorama0000.jpg, Guarita Park, a biosphere reserve File:GuaritaII.jpg, Panoramic view of the Beach of Itapeva File:78bguarita.jpg, View of the Beach of Guarita, Looking West File:Pontezinha - praia da cal.jpg, Wood Bridge at Guarita Park File:Prainha2.jpg, Prainha Beach, looking south to Guarita Park File:Torres.jpg, Guarita Beach, looking East

References

External links

Official city site

Official tourism siteSatellite photo map from Google Maps
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torres, Rio Grande Do Sul Populated coastal places in Rio Grande do Sul Populated places established in 1878 Municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul