Discover Pomerode: History, Zoo and Rota do Enxaimel

Pomerode offers several distinct reasons to explore the town: the Museu Pomerano focuses on the municipality’s history, the zoo on animals and biodiversity, and the Rota do Enxaimel connects around 50 houses along a 16-kilometer route. So, when planning your trip, one simple question can help: Would you most like to immerse yourself in history, experience animals, or make a route the main focus of your visit?

Insights into Pomerode’s history

The Museu Pomerano’s collection reconstructs part of the municipality’s history, beginning with the arrival of Pomeranian immigrants in the Itajaí Valley in the 19th century. This means the focus is not on just any historical period, but on a specific chapter in the town’s history. If you’re traveling with your family, you can use this as a starting point for talking about immigration and the development of a community.

The Museu Pomerano also highlights a collection of carts. It gives the museum visit a tangible focus: alongside the historical context, there is a collection visitors can see for themselves. If you enjoy discovering concrete objects rather than exploring history only in the abstract, this focus is another reason to consider the museum when choosing what to do.

The zoo as a travel highlight in its own right

Pomerode Zoo became Brazil’s first private zoo. Today, it is home to 900 animals from more than 220 species. The two figures convey different aspects of its size: the number of animals indicates the scale of its collection, while the number of species reflects its diversity. For families for whom animals are an important part of a trip, the zoo is a clear option when deciding whether Pomerode suits the group’s interests.

It’s also helpful to distinguish this focus from the historical collections and the route when planning a vacation together. That way, you can consider which kind of discovery appeals most to your family without trying to fit every experience into a single outing. The zoo focuses on wildlife and biodiversity; the Museu Pomerano offers a different perspective, with local history and its cart collection.

The Rota do Enxaimel and its route

The Rota do Enxaimel includes about 50 houses along a 16-kilometer route. The Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional (IPHAN) has recognized it as a cultural landscape. The United Nations also selected the Rota do Enxaimel as one of the world’s best tourism villages. These distinctions relate to the route and its character as a cultural landscape; together with the number of houses, they give this part of Pomerode a distinct profile.

The 16-kilometer length is a concrete point of reference for planning your day. You can think of the Rota as an experience along a route and decide whether this focus suits your trip. Unlike a single museum collection or a display of wildlife, its appeal lies in the way houses and landscape come together along a longer route. The figure of about 50 houses remains an estimate.

Which experiences suit your trip?

If you’re considering Pomerode as a vacation destination, these different highlights can help you decide: history and a collection at the Museu Pomerano, animals and biodiversity at the zoo, or the Rota do Enxaimel as a longer route through houses and landscape. If you’re traveling with children, you can decide together which theme you’d like to shape your trip most.

Other destinations: Rio Do Sul, Araquari, Doutor Pedrinho, Pouso Redondo, Volta Grande, Videira, Palhoça and Indaial.

Back to the regional travel overview: Santa Catarina.