Santa Maria (literally "St. Mary", pronounced SAHN-tah mah-REE-ah) is nicknamed "The Heart of Rio Grande do Sul" due to its geographic location at the center of the state. The city is the center of the state railway system.

The city is along the Paleontological Tourist Route and has two paleontological museums: The Gama D'Eça Educational Museum and the Vicente Pallotti Museum. See the remnants of dinosaurs that once roamed through this part of the world.

The city is also home to one of two federal universities in Rio Grande do Sul: The Federal University of Santa Maria.

In this university city, you'll find many tourist attractions such as the Our Lady of Conception Cathedral in the center of the city inaugurated in 1909 and the historic Vila Belga with it multicolored homes.

The cathedral was painted by the famous Italian-Brazilian painter, the adopted son of Rio Grande do Sul, Aldo Locatelli.