Parque Natural do Caraça

Parque Natural do Caraça Review

Waterfalls, caves—like Gruta do Centenário, one of the world's largest quartzite caves—and natural pools fill this rugged park whose name means "big face," in homage to its main mountain. The park also has some historic buildings, including an 18th-century convent and the Igreja de Nossa Senhora Mãe dos Homens (Church of Our Lady, Mother of Men), built at the end of the 19th century. It has French stained-glass windows, a rare organ, baroque altars, and a painting of the Last Supper by Ataíde. There was once a seminary in the park as well, but it caught fire in 1968. After the accident the building was transformed into an inn and small museum. The park's most famous inhabitant is the lobo guará, a beautiful orange wolf threatened by extinction.