Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Brazil Cândido Godói Cândido Godói

Cândido Godói

The mystery of Brazil's "Land of Twins" has led to wild theories such as Nazi genetic experiments.

Cândido Godói, Brazil

Added By
Sofia Perpetua
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
Entrance to the “Terra dos Gêmeos” (Land of Twins).   Felipe P/CC BY-SA 3.0
  marciosallis / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

An entrance sign to Cândido Godói proclaims the town as “Garden City and Land of Twins.” The small Brazilian farm town has a population of about 6,600, at least 700 of whom are twins. That's nearly 1 in 10 pregnancies, considerably higher than the global average twinning rate. The population celebrates its curious claim to fame with a biennial party held around a statue of a woman holding two babies. 

Cândido Godói is an immigrant town; more than 80 percent of its residents are of German descent, and still today some residents talk to each other in a German dialect. The enduring mystery of why there are so many identical and fraternal twins born in the town makes it one of the most fascinating places in the south of Brazil. The phenomenon has inspired nonfiction and fiction books, as well as investigations by scientists from all over the world. 

One shocking though questionable theory is that Josef Mengele, a Nazi doctor known as "The Angel of Death," performed genetic experiments in the town in 1963. According to some reports, Mengele traveled the south of Brazil in the 1960s, posing as a veterinarian, and under a pseudonym conducted experiments on women that resulted in the high rate of twins.

That theory has been discredited as a myth. However, it is known that Mengele died in Brazil in 1979 and that he had conducted deadly experiments on twins at Auschwitz as he was trying to increase the Aryan birthrate. 

Some residents believe the answer is in the water, in some mysterious mineral. But scientists found that a genetic predisposition to birthing twins, compounded by inbreeding in the immigrant community, may have played a part in the region's high twin rate. The twinning phenomenon is especially high in the district of Linha São Pedro within the town.  

Related Tags

Twins Science Nazis

Know Before You Go

The above coordinates are within Linha São Pedro, the district of Cândido Godói with the highest twinning rate.

Community Contributors

Added By

Sofia Perpetua

Edited By

Meg, marciosallis

  • Meg
  • marciosallis

Published

January 9, 2017

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/11/091125-nazi-twins-brazil-mengele.html
  • http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/world/americas/25brazil.html
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A2ndido_God%C3%B3i
Cândido Godói
Linha São Pedro
Cândido Godói
Brazil
-27.840696, -54.827383
Get Directions

Nearby Places

La Santísima Trinidad de Paraná

Trinidad, Paraguay

miles away

Jesuit Mission of Jesús de Tavarangüe

Jesús de Tavarangue, Paraguay

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Brazil

Brazil

South America

Places 143
Stories 43

Nearby Places

La Santísima Trinidad de Paraná

Trinidad, Paraguay

miles away

Jesuit Mission of Jesús de Tavarangüe

Jesús de Tavarangue, Paraguay

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Brazil

Brazil

South America

Places 143
Stories 43

Related Places

  • Old Power Plant of the Army Research Center in Peenemünde

    Peenemünde, Germany

    Peenemünde Army Research Center

    The NASA scientists behind Apollo 11 started out developing Nazi weapons at this abandoned German rocket factory.

  • Display Cases

    La Rochelle, France

    Le Bunker De La Rochelle

    Under the streets of La Rochelle, a former wartime bunker holds some surprising secrets.

  • Coimbra, Portugal

    Cabinet of Curiosities at the University of Coimbra

    One of the oldest universities in the world exhibits thousands of specimens from its 700-year-old collection.

  • Taichung City, Taiwan

    Wufeng Mushroom Museum

    An unassuming museum offers a deep dive into everything about mushrooms, from cultivation innovations to fungi that "talk."

  • Steinwache from the outside.

    Dortmund, Germany

    Steinwache

    Former Gestapo prison turned memorial museum.

  • Radio telescopes.

    Cawston, British Columbia

    Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory

    One of Canada's premier radio observatories sits in a radio-quiet valley outside Penticton.

  • This eerie memorial is a reminder of the atrocities committed on this site.

    Madona, Latvia

    Memorial in Smecere Pine Forest

    A haunting memorial to those who lost their lives to the Nazi regime lies hidden in the woods.

  • The sun

    Manzanares, Spain

    Paseo del Sistema Solar

    A scale model of our Solar System, where physical representations of the Sun and planets have been placed along a route in the local park.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.