Capital city of Piauí, is usually used as starting point to visit 2 important National Parks located in Piauí: Parque Nacional de Sete Cidades (Seven Cities National Park) and Parque Nacional das Capivaras located
The name Teresina is a tribute to Lady Teresa Cristina, Empress of Brazil, wife of D. Pedro II. Lady Cristina was so admired in Piauí that another city, Imperatriz, was named after Her. Likewise, Teresópolis, city in Rio de Janeiro, was named in homage to Lady Teresa Cristina.

Teresina was the first city in Brazil to be planned. It was designed in 1852 by a master builder in the form of a chessboard. Located 622 km far from Fortaleza, Teresina is the only capital of Brazilian northeast which was not built by the coast; because of this, Piauí is the only Brazilian State which is more developed in the interior than on the coastline.