It is known for a pleasant climate (annual medium temperature 18 °C or 64.4 °F) and its charming houses with an Alpine architecture; it is placed in the rural countryside of Pernambuco (Agreste Pernambucano).

Being an important regional centre town, it is linked to Recife by a federal highway (BR-232), which passes also Vitória de Santo Antão and Jaboatão dos Guararapes.

The municipal district of Gravatá had its origins in a farm, which in 1808, belonging to José Justino Carreiro de Miranda, served as a lodging place for travellers and sold mainly sugar and beef.

One of those resting-places was known as "Crauatá", derived from the Tupi name "Karawata" (mato que fura) for the place, due to the predominance of the plant Bromelia pinguin belonging to the pineapple family also called Caraguatá, Caroatá, Caróa and Gravatá.

It was at the end of the 18th century, that José Justino Carreio de Miranda took ownership of the Fazenda Gravatá, which for a long time served as lodging for travelers.

In 1810 the construction of the chapel Sant'Ana was started to be completed 12 years later by João Félix Justiniano, the son of José Justino Carreiro de Miranda.

In the end of the 19th century, with the inauguration of the Great Westerns Railways, linking Recife to the interior from Pernambuco, the city took considerable pulse and, little by little, vocation was defined for tourism, above all with the construction of the road BR-232, in the Mountains of Russians (Serra das Russas).

Gravatá's main economical activity is agriculture (pineapple, corn, cotton, sweet, potato, tomato, tangerine, bean, banana, cassava, strawberry), the retail trade and livestock.

The real estate section of Gravatá is one of the most important in the interior from Pernambuco, due to the duplication BR-232 (today denominated Rodovia Luiz Gonzaga) and for the offer lands and rural condominiums that multiply.