Gramado is a small tourist city, southeast of Caxias do Sul and east of Nova Petrópolis in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, in the Serra Gaúcha region. The city was originally settled by Azorean descendants and later received a contingent of German and Italian immigrants. Gramado is one of the cities along the scenic route known as Rota Romântica (Romantic Route).
Gramado was originally settled in 1875 by Portuguese immigrants. Five years later, the first German immigrants arrived and these were followed shortly after by Italian immigrants from the Italian settlements in Caxias do Sul.
In 1913, the city seat was moved to Linha Nova, the location of the present-day city center. At this time, Gramado was an unincorporated city within the city of Taquara. A railway, brought by Gramado's founder and first administrator, José Nicoletti Filho, arrived in the city in 1921, boosting the local economy. Gramado officially became a city in 1937, when Gramado was already known as a summer holiday resort. Gramado became a city on 15 December 1954 by force of State Act 2,522.
