Historic coffee farms with carefully decorated farmhouses are top attractions in Vassouras, a city in the portion of the Paraíba River Valley situated in Rio de Janeiro State.
The Coffee Cycle in the Paraíba River Valley lasted for most of the 19th century and had its apex in the mid-19th century, heavily anchored on slavery, which in Brazil was abolished in 1888.
Here are historic Vassouras coffee farms open to scheduled visitation. As of this writing, only Fazenda Mulungu Vermelho offers overnight stays.
To learn more about historic farms in Brazil, contact Preservale and Fazendas do Brasil.
Fazenda Cachoeira do Mato Dentro
Visit the neoclassical farmhouse, tour the slave quarters and enjoy outdoor activities at Fazenda Cachoeira do Mato Dentro, about 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) from downtown Vassouras.
Fazenda Cachoeira Grande
Fazenda Cachoeira Grande, named for a big waterfall on the property, once belonged to the Baron of Vassouras and later to Mário Mondovo, a Jewish Italian who immigrated to Brazil to escape Nazi persecution and who turned it into a dairy farm before selling it to the current owner in 1987.
The farm offers day visits, including a tour of the finely restored farmhouse and a vintage car museum.
Fazenda Mulungu Vermelho
Boosted by the 1816 opening of a road - Estrada do Comércio - which cut through the family farmland, Mulungu Vermelho, once called São Francisco, was one of the farms belonging to the powerful Santos Werneck clan.
Not only was the road a route to ports from which coffee grown in the Paraiba River Valley was shipped abroad, but it also allowed the area's farms to receive luxury items from Rio de Janeiro and Europe.
About 110 slaves once worked on Mulungu Vermelho.
Fazenda Santa Eufrásia
Listed by IPHAN, the Brazilian Institute for National Historic and Artistic Heritage, Fazenda Santa Eufrásia is open to scheduled day visits.
The farmhouse features original furniture and other valuable items such as an 1809 John Brodwood piano.
Fazenda São Fernando
Today a productive dairy farm with a reforestation area where 6,000 trees are planted annually, Fazenda São Fernando was founded in the beginning of the 19th century and lived the Coffee Cycle from the earliest days to the decadence which followed the depletion of Paraiba River Valley soil.
The farmhouse, built in three different periods, is one of the most impressive in the region.
Fazenda do Secretário
In its heyday, Fazenda do Secretário had 500,000 coffee trees. Over 360 slaves lived and worked on the farm.
The farmhouse, considered one of the best examples of rural Brazil dwellings in neoclassical style, has dining rooms with trompe l'oeil paintings on the walls and a ballroom. The farm has been used as a set for Brazil TV productions.
