Its Catedral Nossa Senhora da Oliveira is the episcopal see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Vacaria, which was founded in 1937 as a territorial prelature.

It was the Jesuit missionaries that, in the 16th century, started the colonization of the area by spreading the livestock brought from the reductions to the extensive wilderness known as "Baqueria de los Piñales".

In the 19th century the fields of Vacaria were once more the stage of great battles, this time between the imperial soldiers and the republican revolutionists (Ragamuffin War).

Vacaria is the largest producer of apples in Rio Grande do Sul and 2nd in the country and is considered the introductory location of wild fruits such as mulberry, bilberry, strawberry and raspberry.

On top of the natural attractions such as the beautiful sceneries like the valley of the Pelotas River or the Parque das Cachoeiras, Vacaria has other interesting cultural attractions, like the city museum, the Atelier Livre, the public market, the center of craftwork and the Casa do Povo, the only work of the famous architect Oscar Niemeyer in Rio Grande do Sul.