Capitolio

The canyons at Capitolio are drowned valleys: the Furnas dam closed on the Rio Grande in 1963 and backed water up into gorges the river had already cut, so boats now run between walls twenty to eighty metres high with waterfalls dropping straight into the lake. Speedboats and lanchas do a circuit of a few hours from Escarpas do Lago, cutting engines in the narrowest arms where the walls close in. Outside the canyons the same area has waterfalls reached by land - Lagoa Azul, Cachoeira da Cascatinha, Filo - and viewpoints over the lake from Mirante dos Canyons. It has become one of the busiest domestic destinations in Minas, and the January 2022 rockfall that killed ten people on tour boats led to tightened rules on approaching the walls.

History

Around 1830 the brothers João, Manoel and Antônio Francisco settled here, and the houses around their farms became the Arraial dos Franciscos; in 1895 Pedro Messias da Cunha gave land for a chapel to Saint Sebastian, and the settlement took the name São Sebastião dos Franciscos. Capitólio became a district on 7 September 1923 and a municipality on 27 December 1948, and the Furnas hydroelectric dam, begun in July 1958 with its first turbine running in September 1963, flooded the quartzite valleys around the town (Wikipedia, Capitólio).

The landscape

• Drowned canyons - gorges filled when the Furnas dam closed in 1963.
• Falls into the lake - water dropping off the rim straight into the reservoir.
• Boat circuits into narrow arms - engines cut where the walls close in.
• Mirante dos Canyons - the land viewpoint over the whole system.

When to go

April to October. Two days. Avoid Brazilian holiday weeks if you can.

Things to know

This is crowded and commercial in season, with boats queuing in the same arms. Safety rules restrict how close boats may approach the walls after the 2022 rockfall. Water levels drop in drought years and change the scale. Land waterfalls charge separately and add up.

Nearby

Sao Joao Batista do Gloria is across the lake; Sao Sebastiao do Paraiso is south.