Paraty, Brazil

PARATY, BRAZIL | "A Joia da Costa Verde"

Paraty is the most perfectly preserved colonial town in Brazil — a 17th century Portuguese settlement on the Costa Verde of Rio de Janeiro state where the whitewashed colonial facades, the irregular mosaic cobblestones, the wrought-iron balconies, and the bay of Ilha Grande visible at the end of every street create a physical environment of such completeness that the entire historic center has been closed to motorized traffic since 1966. The town was the primary port on the Caminho do Ouro gold trail from Minas Gerais to Lisbon from 1700 to 1850, and the wealth it generated in that century and a half produced the churches, mansions, and merchant houses that define the townscape today.

The colors are colonial and warm: the brilliant white of the lime-washed facades against the deep blue of the bay, the terracotta of the rooftiles, the green of the Atlantic Forest hills above the town, and the extraordinary phenomenon of the high tide flooding the mosaic cobblestones twice monthly to create a mirror-flat surface that reflects the facades above in a composition of such accidental beauty that Paraty has attracted painters from every country in South America.