The entrance has to be earned: a narrow channel threading between the hills, considered one of the trickiest in Brazil, leads ships to the heart of Vitória, capital of the state of Espírito Santo, built on an island at the back of its bay. As you approach, your eye is caught by a wooded peak crowned with white walls on the Vila Velha shore: the Convento da Penha, a sanctuary founded in 1558, which has watched over passing boats for more than four centuries. Few arrivals in South America offer such a staging.

The upper town and its palaces

Once docked, the historic centre is within immediate reach. The Cidade Alta, the upper town, lines up its colonial-era witnesses around sloping lanes: the Palácio Anchieta, a former Jesuit college that is now the seat of the state government, opens some of its rooms and its chapel to the curious; the metropolitan cathedral raises its Neo-Gothic spires a little higher up; the Theatro Carlos Gomes, inspired by Italian opera houses, borders Praça Costa Pereira, where residents meet beneath the royal palms. The whole area can be explored on foot in an hour or two, amid the quiet bustle of a regional capital that still sees few cruise passengers.

The Convento da Penha

For the view as for the history, the crossing to Vila Velha is a must. Atop its rock about 150 m high, the Convento da Penha is among the oldest sanctuaries in Brazil, the object of a devotion still very much alive throughout the region. The climb is made by a shaded ramp; up top, the terraces take in the entire bay, the bridge spanning it, the beaches and the two sister cities. Pilgrims leave flowers, photographers wait for the light, and everyone comes back down with the same image in mind: that of a bay seen as if from the top of a bell tower.

Moqueca in its clay pot

Vitória proudly defends a dish that sets it apart from the rest of the country: moqueca capixaba. Unlike its Bahian cousin, it is made without coconut milk or palm oil, using only fresh fish, tomatoes, cilantro and annatto, simmered in a panela de barro, the black clay pot shaped by hand by the women potters of the Goiabeiras district. This craft, passed down from mother to daughter, is recognized as Brazilian cultural heritage. Tasting a steaming moqueca in its pot, facing the sea, sums up the call better than any monument.

Beaches and waterfront

Then there's the coastline, ever present. On the Vitória side, Camburi Beach stretches its ribbon of sand for about 6 km, lined with a promenade where joggers and cyclists pass from morning to night; the Praia do Canto district concentrates terraces and restaurants around its lively squares. On the Vila Velha side, Praia da Costa draws families at the foot of the white apartment buildings. At the artisan market, basketry, lace and clay pots make meaningful souvenirs, since they come straight from the region's own workshops.

Port of call at a glance

At departure, the ship retraces the channel in reverse, and the perched sanctuary bids passengers one last farewell. Vitória still appears on only a handful of itineraries, which is part of its charm: a capital on a human scale, a spectacular bay, a cuisine found nowhere else. It's the kind of port of call people talk about at the table long afterward, searching in vain for a comparable moqueca.