Brazil is the most urbex-diverse country in South America — a territory the size of a continent where Henry Ford built an entire American city deep in the Amazon and abandoned it in 1945 without producing a single tyre, where a diamond-mining town of 10,000 people was reduced to 300 survivors among Machu Picchu-like stone ruins and where São Paulo's 1917 jute factory worker village — the first planned community in all of Brazil — decays beside the metro line in Belenzinho. Almost a century after Ford's failure, Fordlândia — on the banks of the Rio Tapajós — still keeps the ruins of what was one of the greatest failures in the history of the car manufacturer: the hospital, golf course, hotel and dozens of employee houses, some still standing. Discover the 5 best abandoned places in Brazil, selected from our Brazil Urbex Map — 500+ verified GPS locations.
Why Brazil Is One of the Best Countries in the World for Urban Exploration
No other country in the Americas combines an Amazon ghost town, the first planned worker community in Brazil, a diamond-mining ghost town resembling Machu Picchu, a 122-year psychiatric asylum used for military dictatorship torture and the most extraordinary drowned colonial church in South America — all within a single destination. Brazil's specific history of economic cycles, military dictatorship and dam construction has produced an abandonment heritage of extraordinary variety across an enormous territory.
1. Fordlândia – Aveiro, Pará — Henry Ford's Amazon Utopia 1928–1945, American Hospital & Hotel in the Jungle, $200M Lost, No Road Access (Known Location)
Built in 1928 as an American city on the Rio Tapajós to supply latex for Ford's factories, Fordlândia was abandoned in 1945 after Ford's great error of treating machines like living things — and expecting his men to treat living things like machines. The rubber trees planted too close together in the American production-line logic were doomed to pests. After spending six years and $7 million, Ford finally listened to experts. In 1945, with Henry Ford and his son Edsel dead, the company sold the land to the Brazilian government for a fraction of its value. The hospital, water tower, "Palm Avenue" housing and Ford Motor Company equipment remain. Accessible by boat from Santarém only.
🔗 Source: Terra Brasil – Fordlândia
2. Igatu – Chapada Diamantina, Bahia — Diamond Mining Town, 10,000 at Peak 19th Century, "Machu Picchu da Bahia," Stone Ruins, Film Location (Known Location)
During the diamond mining peak in the 19th century, Igatu had more than 10,000 inhabitants, along with mansions, brothels and casinos. With the end of the diamond cycle, the population diminished — today around 300 residents remain. Its stone ruins resemble Machu Picchu and attract tourists, serving as film location for Abril Despedaçado and Besouro. Set in the extraordinary Chapada Diamantina highland landscape — quartzite plateaus, waterfalls, exceptional light — Igatu is the most visually dramatic abandoned settlement accessible by car in Brazil. 42km from Lençóis.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Abandoned Places in Brazil →
3. Vila Maria Zélia – Belenzinho, São Paulo — 1917 Jute Factory Worker Village, First Planned Community in Brazil, Derelict Schools, Atlas Obscura, Metro Accessible
Vila Maria Zélia, inaugurated in 1917, was built to house 2,500 workers of the Companhia Nacional de Tecidos da Juta — one of the first planned communities in all of Brazil, with two schools, a grocery store, a church and other facilities. Due to economic problems in the 1920s and 1930s, the company declared bankruptcy, and some buildings including the schools were closed down and abandoned. Listed on Atlas Obscura. Metro Line 3 (Red) to Belém station, 10-minute walk. The most accessible major derelict site in Brazil. GPS in our Brazil Urbex Map.
4. Mid-Century Brutalist Factory Complex – Eastern São Paulo Industrial Belt — 1940s–50s Multi-Storey Brick Mill, Sawtooth Skylights, Overhead Crane Intact, Immigrant Industrial Heritage (Exclusively on Our Map)
In São Paulo's Mooca and Brás districts — the heart of the Italian immigrant industrial belt from the 1890s — the finest surviving derelict factory building is a multi-storey brick mill with intact sawtooth skylight roof, the overhead crane mechanism still on its runway beams and decades of filtered light through the clerestory windows. At its 1940s peak the Matarazzo empire alone employed 6% of greater São Paulo's population; the deindustrialisation that followed left this extraordinary industrial heritage in progressive dereliction. One of the finest factory photography subjects in South America, accessible by metro. GPS in our Brazil Urbex Map.
5. Drowned Colonial Church Tower – Nordeste Reservoir, Pernambuco — Flooded by Dam Construction, Arched Nave Rising from Blue-Green Water, Boat Access (Exclusively on Our Map)
In a Nordeste reservoir created by dam construction for hydroelectric power — its colonial town relocated, its remaining structures flooded — a single tall colonial church tower rises from the blue-green water. Listed by WebUrbanist among Brazil's 7 abandoned wonders: "a series of brick-accented arches rising from blue-green waters — the remains were flooded, now lost beneath the surface, with the exception of this one tall structure." Best photographed by boat during the dry season when the water level is lower and the full extent of the submerged nave is visible. Find it on our Brazil Urbex Map.
Safety Tips
- Amazon (Fordlândia): malaria prophylaxis, DEET and mosquito net mandatory; heat and humidity accelerate structural decay — assess before entering any building
- São Paulo factory belt: asbestos common in pre-1980 factories — FFP2 mask required in any enclosed industrial space; explore in daytime
- Nordeste reservoir: never attempt to swim or wade to submerged ruins — boat access only
- Never explore alone — always bring at least one other person and share your location
❓ FAQ
What is the most famous abandoned place in Brazil?
Fordlândia — Henry Ford's failed Amazon rubber city, built in 1928 and abandoned in 1945 without producing a single tyre, its complete American-style settlement still standing on the Rio Tapajós. Accessible only by boat from Santarém. For accessibility, Igatu in the Chapada Diamantina — Brazil's "Machu Picchu of stone ruins," 42km from Lençóis — is the most visually spectacular abandoned settlement reachable by car.
Is Brazil good for urbex?
Exceptionally so — and significantly underexplored by the international urbex community. Brazil combines Amazon ghost towns, the first planned worker community in the Americas, colonial mining towns, a drowned Nordeste church and one of the largest derelict early 20th-century factory landscapes in the world, all within a single country. Most Brazilian sites are entirely off the international urbex radar.
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