Nova Friburgo
Nova Friburgo stands in the mountains of the Rio de Janeiro interior. In 1818 King João VI authorised a Swiss colony on the Morro Queimado estate, and families from the canton of Fribourg crossed the Atlantic to settle there. German immigrants followed in 1824. The new community took its name from Fribourg, while its settlers faced the difficulties of cultivating land in a steep mountain landscape.