Mata

The City of Mata, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil is located on the largest 200 million year old fossil forest in Brazil; a true “Open Air Museum”. Mata is part of the Mata Arenito Paleobotanical Sites, created by the Brazilian Commission of Geological and Paleobiological Sites. Of the Triassic Age, these “petrified forest” samples are among the most important records on the planet. Mata is also notable for its colonial history, linked to figures such as José da Silva Pereira, and its emancipation in 1964. In 1976, Father Daniel Cargnin arrived in the city and discovered plant fossils and from then on Mata became known as the ‘City of Wood that Turned into Stone’, and gave its name to the City museum that houses more than 2.500 pieces of fossils. Tourism is an economic engine of the city.