Rio de Janeiro, Rio Claro
Ponte Bela In 1855, the Industrial Company of the Mangaratiba Road began building a road to transport the coffee production from the then municipality of São João Marcos to Mangaratiba. However, only a section of the road was completed — 28 km long, with retaining walls along the sides, remnants of which can still be seen along the trail.
Across the Ribeirão das Lajes, an 18-meter-span stone bridge was built — the Ponte Bela — with a bronze handrail and dressed stone masonry. Today, the Ponte Bela is seasonally submerged by the waters of the Ribeirão das Lajes Reservoir. On one of the bridge’s pillars, on the right side, it is possible to identify the initials of the Company, “C. I. M.,” as well as the inscription “Imperador Petrus II.”
The Company went bankrupt in 1877, and the road was abandoned. Location of the Attraction
