Teresópolis is a Brazilian municipality located in the interior of the state of Rio de Janeiro, approximately from the state capital. Situated in the Serra Fluminense, it forms part of the Intermediate Geographic Region of Petrópolis and has a total area of just over , of which approximately is classified as urban area. +At an elevation of , it is the highest municipality in the state. Its population was 165,123 according to the IBGE's 2022 census.
The territory was inhabited before the arrival of European colonists, originally by Indigenous peoples such as the Puri and Tamoio. The region was also used as a route and refuge by Black people escaping from plantations in the Baixada Fluminense. This process was associated with the formation of resistant communities in the mountain range, including the Quilombo da Serra, which historians consider the area's first population center. Settlement expanded during the 19th century, when the Portuguese-British merchant George March acquired land in the area where the Alto neighborhood is now located and established the Santo Antônio farm, situated along the route between Rio de Janeiro and the then Province of Minas Gerais. The farm became a stopping place for muleteers and travelers, encouraging the growth of the district of Santo Antônio de Paquequer. Teresópolis became an independent municipality on 6 July 1891, when Governor Francisco Portela issued a decree separating its territory from Magé. The construction of a railway providing a direct connection to the capital—and its subsequent replacement by a highway—stimulated Teresópolis's economic and urban development.
The municipality is characterized by its mountainous terrain and nationally significant protected areas, including Serra dos Órgãos National Park, Três Picos State Park, and Montanhas de Teresópolis Municipal Nature Park. Its economy and cultural identity are closely associated with tourism, particularly outdoor activities, hotel infrastructure, and events. Teresópolis is also home to the training center of the Brazil national football team, the traditional Feirinha do Alto craft market, which has more than 700 exhibitors, and several sites of historical and architectural interest, including the Mother Church of Saint Teresa, the Church of Saint Anthony of Paquequer, Palacete Granado, Teresa Cristina Palace, Granja Guarani Viewpoint, and Judith Fountain.
Etymology
The name "Teresópolis" combines the anthroponym "Teresa" with the word polis, of Greek origin, and therefore means "city of Teresa". It honors the Brazilian empress Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies, wife of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil.
History
Origins and settlement
Before the first Portuguese arrived in the region of Magé in the 16th century, the territory was inhabited by Indigenous peoples belonging to the Timbira, Tamoio and Temiminó groups, who were associated with the tribe of Araribóia. These peoples were pejoratively called maracajás by their enemies. The higher elevations, corresponding to the present-day Serra dos Órgãos and thus to the area of Teresópolis, were also inhabited by the Guarani, as well as other groups associated with the mountainous regions of southeastern Brazil.
The so-called Quilombo da Serra was also established in the region. It consisted of Indigenous people and escaped Africans who organized themselves into communities in the mountain forests and resisted colonial repression beginning in the mid-17th century. These communities were spread across extensive areas between the Serra dos Órgãos and adjacent river valleys, maintaining cooperative relationships and employing strategies of resistance in the face of colonial expansion.
During the 18th century, several trails were opened up the mountains from Guapimirim, leading to the area where the neighborhood of Três Córregos is now located, in the Second District. One of these routes passed through the Maria da Prata Gorge (now within Três Picos State Park) and continued to Canoas. Another crossed the Soberbo and Garrafão areas (following a route close to that of BR-116, within Serra dos Órgãos National Park) and reached Boa Vista and Paquequer, an area corresponding to the present-day Alto neighborhood.
The first official description of the region where Teresópolis now stands was made in 1788 by Baltazar Lisboa, then the juiz de fora of Rio de Janeiro, by order of the Minister and Secretary of State for Overseas Affairs. Considered one of the earliest systematic records of the region, the description mentions the characteristics of the mountain range and a supposed sertão (hinterland) in the area where the Cascata do Imbuí is now located.
The region was later described by European travelers and naturalists of the 18th and 19th centuries, whose accounts are important sources for its early history.
George March and his farm
From the beginning of the 19th century, following colonization, the English were among the first foreigners to settle in Brazil, taking advantage of favorable trading conditions with Portugal, which intensified from 1808 onward with the opening of the ports. In this context, England became Portugal's main trading partner and accounted for a large share of its economic transactions. These circumstances favored British merchants, who achieved high profits through commercial activities, partnerships with local businesspeople, and family ties.
George March, born in 1788, was one of the British immigrants who settled in Brazil. He initially established himself in the Praça Mauá area of central Rio de Janeiro, where in 1813 he founded Barker & March, a firm that imported British industrial goods. He later moved to Botafogo and, around 1818, leased the Sant’Anna do Paquequer farm, located in the Serra dos Órgãos and then part of Magé. The property encompassed four sesmarias and, after March purchased it outright, became known as Fazenda March. It formed the initial nucleus of settlement in the area now corresponding to the Alto neighborhood.
March built the farmhouse in a style inspired by European architectural models and turned the property into a model farm, producing a variety of vegetables and grains and raising animals, including horses at a stud farm. The use of enslaved labor was essential to the operation of the estate, as was common on the large farms of the period.
The farm underwent significant development over the following decades. Accounts by foreign travelers such as Walsh and Gardner describe extensive areas devoted to crops and livestock, as well as the production of vegetables for the Rio de Janeiro market, to which they were regularly transported by pack trains. This agricultural activity helped integrate the region into the capital's economy and marked the beginning of its longstanding market-gardening tradition, which continues to the present day.
The farm was reached by rough mountain paths traveled mainly by horses and mules, which carried both goods and people. A large enslaved population lived on the estate in and rudimentary dwellings, reflecting the social conditions of the period.
The farm also became a meeting place for travelers, naturalists, and members of the imperial elite, who recorded their impressions of the region in diaries and illustrations, particularly the Serra dos Órgãos and its distinctive rock formations.
March's death and subsequent development
George March died in 1845. In the following years, his heirs began dividing the lands of the former Sant’Anna do Paquequer farm with the assistance of their guardians, John Fulding, John Prince James, and Richard Heath; the division was consolidated from 1850 onward.
Much of the land was purchased by members of the firm Antônio Fernandes Coelho & Cia, who began reselling it in lots, chiefly to buyers from Rio de Janeiro, thereby encouraging settlement in the mountain region. Among the buyers was Colonel Polycarpo José Álvares de Azevedo, a native of Guapimirim, who acquired land near the former farmhouse and undertook initiatives that contributed to the formation of the area's first urban nucleus.
Continuing a tradition established during George March's time, the region became increasingly established as a place of rest and a summer resort for residents of the capital, attracted by its mild climate and mountain scenery. This process encouraged the emergence of small settlements on the subdivided land and began the locality's gradual development. As a result of this growth, on 25 October 1855 the area was elevated to the status of a parish under Provincial Decree No. 829. It was renamed Santo Antônio do Paquequer and officially incorporated into the municipality of Magé. This milestone formalized the settlement's administration and established the region as an organized population center in the province's interior.
Emancipation and administrative organization
On 16 June 1890, the state government reached an agreement with businessmen Jerônimo Roberto de Mesquita and Domingos Moitinho, authorizing them to construct railway lines intended to integrate the territory of Rio de Janeiro state. The concession was valid for 70 years and included a guaranteed return on invested capital. The agreement was formalized on 7 July 1890, when Governor Francisco Portela signed a contract with the Estrada de Ferro Therezópolis company that provided not only for construction of the railway but also for the establishment of urban infrastructure.
The project called for a connection between Niterói and the Várzea area, where the nucleus of the future city would be established, as well as the introduction of services such as sanitation, street lighting, trams, and telegraph and telephone networks. The initiative formed part of the economic expansion and modernization policies of the early Republic and was associated with business groups and the financial capital of the period.
Influential figures such as Godofredo Xavier da Cunha and Nicola Antonio Facchinetti attended the signing ceremony, which symbolized the beginning of the project to found the city. The project even included the possible transfer of the state capital to the locality, a proposal Francisco Portela had advocated since the imperial period.
Political and administrative emancipation came on 6 July 1891 through State Decree No. 280, which elevated Santo Antônio do Paquequer to the status of a municipality under the name Teresópolis, in honor of Empress Teresa Cristina, wife of Pedro II.
The district of Santa Rita was created by the same decree. The district of Sebastiana, separated from Nova Friburgo, was later added, establishing the municipality's initial administrative division into three districts.
Despite the expectations it generated, however, the urban and railway development project was not completed as planned. Work was suspended in the following years, a situation attributed in part to the improper use of some of the company's capital on studies and installations that proved unfeasible.
In response, the state government under José Tomás da Porciúncula amended the contract, reducing the benefits granted to the company and redirecting the political project to relocate the capital to the interior; the capital was ultimately transferred to Petrópolis.
Arrival of the railway and economic expansion
During the 19th century, the train became the principal mode of transport in many parts of the world and played a fundamental role in territorial integration and economic development. In the state of Rio de Janeiro, a pioneer of rail transport in Brazil, the Estrada de Ferro Therezópolis was particularly notable. It ran from the port of Piedade on Guanabara Bay to the district of Guapimirim, crossing the municipality of Magé.
Until the early 20th century, Guapimirim station served as the line's terminus. Work then began on crossing the Serra dos Órgãos, a section that required specialized engineering solutions because of the rugged terrain.