History
Vila Velha is the oldest township in Espírito Santo, having been founded on the 23rd of May, 1535. First called Vila do Espírito Santo, it was founded by Vasco Fernandes Coutinho and initially served as the capital of Espírito Santo. Coutinho, owner of the Espírito Santo colony, was forced to return to Portugal around 1550 in order to recruit new colonists, as there were not enough to sustain the colony. Upon his return, however, he discovered that there had been violent disputes between the colonists, slaves, and Indians, which had forced most inhabitants to flee to the island of Vitória. In response, Coutinho relocated the capital to Vitória. Afterward, Vila Velha remained a quiet village until quite recently; the 1828 census, for example, showed only 1,250 people in the village. Today, however, Vila Velha is the biggest city in the entire state of Espírito Santo, and has approximately 500,000 inhabitants.
The Police Battalion in charge of Vila Velha is the 4ºBPM-PMES.
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)