Itaúnas: Where Dunes Buried a Town & Forró Found a Home
Itaúnas in northern Espírito Santo is a beach town buried twice by the migrating dunes — the current village was rebuilt, and the ruins of the old church occasionally emerge from the sand; a forró music mecca
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Buried Urban History
The original Itaúnas town was buried by the advancing sand dunes in the 1970s - the villagers abandoned their homes as the sand slowly covered everything; the ruins of the church tower sometimes visible through the dune surface
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Massive Mobile Dunes
Itaúna's dunes - some reaching 30 meters - drift steadily south under the prevailing winds; walking through the dune landscape, hearing the Atlantic on the other side and arriving at the beach is extraordinary
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Itaúna's Forró Festival
Itaúna's June-July forró festival is one of Brazil's most famous — the combination of sand dunes, river, beach and forró music has drawn the bohemian and music-loving crowd to this remote village for decades
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Itaúna River and the Sea
The Itaúnas River meets the sea next to the village — the crossing from the village beach to the dunes and back through the river current is the classic Itaúnas day; the calm estuary is ideal for swimming
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Restinga coastal ecosystems
The Restingan — the coastal scrubland between the sand dunes and freshwater lagoons — protects endemic species; Itaúna's Coastal Reserve preserves the restinga, the lagoons and sea turtle nesting beaches
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Remote Authentic Village
Itaúnas has an authentic village character - fishing boats on the river, simple pousadas and no streets wide enough for cars in the old town; the distance that allowed the dunes to bury the old city preserves the new