The same stone that gives S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 its identity also raises a hard question for the future. How much extraction can a fragile mountain landscape carry?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A city made from its own mountain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Long before the city became a tourism brand, residents used what the Serra da Mantiqueira gave them. Quartzite, locally known as Pedra S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9, splits into flat slabs, so builders stacked irregular pieces into thick walls, paved streets, and framed religious buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read More: Scientists announce a \u201cgame-changing\u201d method, and the headline sounds exaggerated\u2026 until you see the before and after (and the key number)<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nThe Instituto Estadual do Patrim\u00f4nio Hist\u00f3rico e Art\u00edstico (IEPHA) says the Igreja Matriz, the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Ros\u00e1rio, and historic-center buildings were made with dry stones laid one on another without binding agents. The roads too were paved with large irregular stone blocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The engineering hiding in the rough stone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
At first glance, walls made without mortar can look almost improvised. In reality, dry-stone construction<\/a> depends on weight, fit, balance, and experience passed from one worker to another.<\/p>\n\n\n\nEach slab must be chosen for how it rests against the next one. A bad fit can create a weak spot, while a good one can help a wall stand through wind, humidity, and mountain temperature swings. It is old-school engineering, the kind you can read with your hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heritage built around faith and legend<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The official history of the historic center is tied to the reported discovery of an image of Saint Thomas in a grotto, a tradition that led to the building of a chapel starting in 1770. The current Matriz church began in 1785, according to IEPHA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That origin story still matters because S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 does not separate stone from memory very easily. In practical terms, the streets, churches, and topography form one cultural landscape, protected at state level after heritage decisions in 1985 and a 1996 correction that extended protection to the historic center and Matriz church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why mystics and hikers keep coming<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
So why do people keep traveling there? Part of the answer is visible in everyday daylight, with waterfalls, lookout points, caves, rock art references<\/a>, and the famous Casa da Pir\u00e2mide drawing visitors into the mountains.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAnother part is harder to measure. S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 das Letras has long been surrounded by stories about underground passages, unusual energy, ufology, and spiritual retreats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\nRead More: A herd of cows was abandoned on a deserted island 130 years ago, and a genetic study has now left researchers with a result they did not expect<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nIn 2025, the Minas Gerais government said the city was being repositioned as a destination of spirituality and connection, with tourism experiences built around nature, ancestral culture, sunset colors, mineral formations, meditation, caves, waterfalls, and guided astronomical observation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pedra S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 became official<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The same quartzite that shapes the old streets is also an economic product. In July 2024, Brazil\u2019s National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) recognized the Regi\u00e3o Pedra S\u00e3o Thom\u00e9 as a Geographic Indication in the Denomination of Origin category for quartzite slabs and foliated quartzite used mostly as ornamental and coating material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Traditional](\"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/sao-tome-das-letras-quartzite-mountain-architecture-1.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
Perched 4,724 feet above sea level, S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 das Letras is built upon a vast quartzite deposit, creating a unique urban landscape where geology and architecture merge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nINPI said the stone is a metamorphic<\/a> quartzite with white, yellowish, or pink tones, low thermal conductivity, anti-slip qualities, and a tabular structure that allows it to separate into slabs for floors, walls, and outdoor surfaces. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThat helps explain why builders reach for it around pools and patios, especially where sun-baked pavement can turn a barefoot walk into a test of courage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The environmental question is getting sharper<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Still, no city can quarry its own symbol without consequences. Mining<\/a> supports jobs, transport, workshops, commerce, and family income, but it also changes the mountain face and puts pressure on roads, watercourses, and scenic areas that tourism depends on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRead More: A 17th-century Arabic document turns up in a pile of trash\u2026 and what it reveals about everyday life changes the \u201cofficial\u201d narrative of the era<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nThat is the tightrope S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 has to walk. A Geographic Indication can help organize origin, quality, and regularity in the supply chain, but it is not the same thing as environmental protection. Licensing, monitoring, and recovery of quarry areas still matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A living place, not a museum<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
It would be easy to turn S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 das Letras into a postcard and leave it there. Stone streets, white churches, caves, legends, orange sunsets \u2013 the image almost writes itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the city is more interesting than that. It is a place where geology<\/a> became architecture, architecture became tourism, and tourism now has to share space with mining and conservation. At the end of the day, the mountain is not just scenery. It is the city\u2019s memory, its workplace, and its warning.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe official statement was published on the Ag\u00eancia Minas website<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"High in southern Minas Gerais, a small Brazilian city has become famous for looking as if it grew straight out … <\/p>\n
Each slab must be chosen for how it rests against the next one. A bad fit can create a weak spot, while a good one can help a wall stand through wind, humidity, and mountain temperature swings. It is old-school engineering, the kind you can read with your hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Heritage built around faith and legend<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The official history of the historic center is tied to the reported discovery of an image of Saint Thomas in a grotto, a tradition that led to the building of a chapel starting in 1770. The current Matriz church began in 1785, according to IEPHA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That origin story still matters because S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 does not separate stone from memory very easily. In practical terms, the streets, churches, and topography form one cultural landscape, protected at state level after heritage decisions in 1985 and a 1996 correction that extended protection to the historic center and Matriz church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why mystics and hikers keep coming<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
So why do people keep traveling there? Part of the answer is visible in everyday daylight, with waterfalls, lookout points, caves, rock art references<\/a>, and the famous Casa da Pir\u00e2mide drawing visitors into the mountains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another part is harder to measure. S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 das Letras has long been surrounded by stories about underground passages, unusual energy, ufology, and spiritual retreats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2025, the Minas Gerais government said the city was being repositioned as a destination of spirituality and connection, with tourism experiences built around nature, ancestral culture, sunset colors, mineral formations, meditation, caves, waterfalls, and guided astronomical observation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The same quartzite that shapes the old streets is also an economic product. In July 2024, Brazil\u2019s National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) recognized the Regi\u00e3o Pedra S\u00e3o Thom\u00e9 as a Geographic Indication in the Denomination of Origin category for quartzite slabs and foliated quartzite used mostly as ornamental and coating material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n INPI said the stone is a metamorphic<\/a> quartzite with white, yellowish, or pink tones, low thermal conductivity, anti-slip qualities, and a tabular structure that allows it to separate into slabs for floors, walls, and outdoor surfaces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That helps explain why builders reach for it around pools and patios, especially where sun-baked pavement can turn a barefoot walk into a test of courage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, no city can quarry its own symbol without consequences. Mining<\/a> supports jobs, transport, workshops, commerce, and family income, but it also changes the mountain face and puts pressure on roads, watercourses, and scenic areas that tourism depends on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is the tightrope S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 has to walk. A Geographic Indication can help organize origin, quality, and regularity in the supply chain, but it is not the same thing as environmental protection. Licensing, monitoring, and recovery of quarry areas still matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It would be easy to turn S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 das Letras into a postcard and leave it there. Stone streets, white churches, caves, legends, orange sunsets \u2013 the image almost writes itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the city is more interesting than that. It is a place where geology<\/a> became architecture, architecture became tourism, and tourism now has to share space with mining and conservation. At the end of the day, the mountain is not just scenery. It is the city\u2019s memory, its workplace, and its warning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The official statement was published on the Ag\u00eancia Minas website<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" High in southern Minas Gerais, a small Brazilian city has become famous for looking as if it grew straight out … <\/p>\nRead More: A herd of cows was abandoned on a deserted island 130 years ago, and a genetic study has now left researchers with a result they did not expect<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Pedra S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 became official<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The environmental question is getting sharper<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Read More: A 17th-century Arabic document turns up in a pile of trash\u2026 and what it reveals about everyday life changes the \u201cofficial\u201d narrative of the era<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
A living place, not a museum<\/h2>\n\n\n\n