Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Marechal Deodoro
The beautifully preserved colonial town of
MARECHAL DEODORO
(“mar-ay-shao
deodoro”) lies just 22km south of Maceió via AL-101 and AL-215. Once the booming
capital of the Captaincy of Alagoas (Maceió replaced it in 1839), today it's no more than
a small market town, built on rising ground on the banks of the Lagoa Manguaba, with
streets that are either dirt or cobbled - its low-strung adobe homes look almost Central
American, with not a single building that looks as if it were constructed this century. Nor
is it simply preserved for tourists to gawp at: the locals spit in the streets, gossip and hang
about in bars as they would anywhere else, and there's a real air of small-town tranquillity.
Museu de Arte Sagrada
Praça Pedro Paulinho (Rua São Francisco at Rua Dr Melo Moraes) • Mon & Wed-Sat 9am-5pm • Free •
T
82 221 2651
Tiny
Praça Pedro Paulinho
is dominated by the imposing facade of the 1790s
Igreja de
Santa Maria Magdalena
, with the older
Convento de São Francisco
, finished in 1684,
attached. The church itself is bare save for the incredibly lavish Rococo altar, ceiling
paintings and a similarly elaborate side chapel. The convent is built around a cloister,
with the main galleries of the excellent
Museu de
Arte Sagrada
on the first storey.
Everything on display is high Catholic religious art, with little concession made to the
tropical setting save for the large number of portrayals of São Benedito, the black
patron saint of the slaves who manned the
engenhos
(sugar mills) all around and built
most of Marechal Deodoro itself. The highlight of the collection, extracted from
churches all over the state, is the group of seventeenth- to nineteenth-century statues
of saints and the Virgin Mary. Most are no more than 30cm high, made of wood or
plaster, and intricately painted. There's also a gallery of life-size (and frighteningly
lifelike) carved wooden bodies of the Passion of Christ, replete with gruesome wounds.
4
Casa Museu Marechal Deodoro
Rua Marechal Deodoro • Mon-Sat 8am-5pm • Free •
T
82 9998 3520
Down the road curving to the right past the Convento de São Francisco is the modest
house that was the birthplace of
Marechal Deodoro
in 1827 (he lived here for sixteen
years), proclaimer and first president of the Republic in 1889; it's now preserved as the
Casa Museu Marechal Deodoro
. Deodoro, the son of an army of
cer, was the first
Brazilian to mount a military coup, unceremoniously de-throning the harmless old
emperor Dom Pedro II, but he proved an arrogant and inept president, the first in a
depressingly long line of incompetent military authoritarians. Dissolving Congress and
declaring a state of siege in 1891, he did everyone a favour by resigning when he couldn't
make it stick. There's no hint, of course, of his disastrous political career in the museum,
which is basically a mildly interesting collection of personal effects and period furniture.
Igreja Matriz de Nossa Senhora da Conceição
Rua Capitão Bernardino Souto • Mon-Sat 8am-5pm • Free
Completed in 1783, the
Igreja Matriz de Nossa Senhora da Conceição
is the town's
pretty white and yellow main church, with a simple interior featuring a gorgeous
hand-carved wood altarpiece. The church lies at the end of the long plaza-like swathe
of Rua Capitão Bernardino Souto, lined with more colonial relics and accessed via
Rua Dr. Ladislau Neto from the main part of town.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
MARECHAL DEODORO
By bus and minibus
Buses and minibuses from
Maceió run to Marechal frequently (30-40min),
generally via Praia do Francês. Minibuses (R$2.50)
depart from outside the Estação Ferroviária on Rua
Barão de Anádia. On arrival in Marechal buses and
minibuses take a snaking route through the town; get
off in or close to Praça Pedro Paulinho (from where you
can jump onto any bus heading back).
By colectivo
Colectivo
taxis are easy to find (near the
lagoon at the end of Rua Barão de Alagoas), charging
R$2.50 for the run to Praia do Francês (assuming the car
is full).
