Capitólio

Capitólio is a municipality in southwestern Minas Gerais, Brazil. It belongs to the Immediate Geographic Region of Piumhi and the Intermediate Geographic Region of Varginha. The municipality covers 521.802 km2 (201.469 sq mi). Its population was 10,380 in the 2022 census and was estimated at 10,991 in 2025. The town grew from a nineteenth-century farming settlement called Arraial dos Franciscos. A chapel to Saint Sebastian was built after Pedro Messias da Cunha donated land to the community in 1895, and the settlement became São Sebastião dos Franciscos. Capitólio became a district in 1923 and a municipality in 1948. Furnas Reservoir reaches into the municipality through valleys cut into quartzite. Boat excursions, overlooks, and waterfalls around the reservoir form the basis of the local tourism industry.