the most important town on ilha grande is vila do abraăo or the village of abraham - nestled on a cove overlooking the pristine waters of the atlantic, abraăo has the most infrastructure and population density making it the hub of ilha grande.

the old portuguese word abra for 'cove' is widely thought to be the base for the village name.

the town used to be an immigration port where people arriving on ships would be screened in the lazaretto, an isolation hospital that was built in the 19th century and demolished in the 1950s.

the two rivers institute for criminals was built near abraăo in 1940, but was demolished in 1993. since the 1970s, much of the area around abraăo has become protected land including the ilha grande state park.