Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
buildings - the
Palácio do Campo das Princesas
(undergoing a massive restoration till at
least 2015), the
Teatro Santa Isabel
(opened in 1850 and still in use) and the
Palácio da
Justiça
, a grand French Empire-style pile completed in 1930 (closed to visitors).
Basílica de Nossa Senhora do Carmo
Av Dantas Barreto, at Rua Tobias Barreto • Daily 7am-8pm • Free •
T
81 3224 3174,
W
basilicadocarmorecife.org.br
Recife's grandest church was completed in around 1767 next to the Convento do
Carmo, and dedicated to the city's patron saint (Virgem do Carmo). The spacious,
Rococo interior features an array of gilt gold
retábulos
, not quite as lavish as the Capela
Dourada (see p.267), but impressive nonetheless.
Convento de Santo Antônio and the Capela Dourada
Rua do Imperador Pedro II • Mon-Fri 8-11.30am & 2-5pm, Sat 8-11.30am • R$4 •
T
81 3224 0530,
W
capeladourada.com.br Igreja de
Santo Antônio Mon-Fri 8-11.30am & 2-4.30pm, Sat 9-11.30am • Free, donation requested
The most enticing attraction in central Recife is the
Capela Dourada
(Golden Chapel),
housed inside the Franciscan complex known as the
Convento do Santo Antônio
.
Established in 1606, the Dutch incorporated the convent into their fortress here in the
1630s, and it was largely rebuilt between 1702 and 1777. You enter via the
Museu
Franciscano de Arte Sacra
, a small but precious collection of religious carvings and
statuary (all with good English labelling), before walking through a quiet cloister to the
chapel itself. Finished in 1724, the Baroque interior is smothered in lavish wall-to-
ceiling ornamentation, everything covered with gold leaf - in between are panels of oil
paintings, mostly the work of José Ribeiro de Vasconcelos (between 1759 and 1761),
including one of the “Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan”, crucified in Nagasaki in 1597 (and
not especially Japanese-looking). What really gilded the chapel, of course, was sugar
cane: the sugar trade was at its peak when it was built, and the sugar elite were building
monuments to their wealth all over the city. From the chapel you can peer into (but
not enter) the main convent church, the
Igreja de Santo Antônio
, remodelled in the
Rococo style 1753 to 1770. The church entrance is back on the street, next door to the
museum entrance - ask someone in the o
ce to let you into the main cloister. Though
simpler than the Capela Dourada, the cloister and the church feature gorgeous
azulejos
(painted tiles), representing scenes from the Bible and the life of St Anthony.
4
Pátio de São Pedro
Tiny
Pátio de São Pedro
lies just off Avenida Dantas Barreto, a tranquil, pedestrianized
plaza ringed with some lovely old bars and restaurants, and dominated by the
Igreja
São Pedro dos Clerigios
(closed for major renovation at the time of writing, expected
to open in early 2015).
Memorial Chico Science
Pátio de São Pedro 21 • Mon-Fri 9am-5pm • Free •
T
81 3355 3158,
W
www.recife.pe.gov.br/chicoscience
The small but poignant
Memorial Chico Science
celebrates the life of the creator of
mangue beat
(a fusion of rock, funk and hip-hop with the traditional music of Brazil's
Northeast), who died in a car accident here in 1997. Chico was born Francisco de Assis
França in Olinda in 1966, and founded mangue beat in 1991 with fellow local
musician Fred 04.
Casa da Cultura de Pernambuco
Rua Floriano Peixoto • Mon-Fri 9am-7pm, Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 9am-2pm • Free •
T
81 3224 0557,
W
casadaculturape.com.br
Opposite Recife's old train station, the forbidding
Casa da Cultura de Pernambuco
was
the city's prison from 1855 to 1973, but is now an arts and crafts centre, the cells
converted into little boutiques and one or two places for refreshment. The prison was
cunningly designed, with four wings radiating out from a central point, so that a single
warder could keep an eye on all corridors (
Cell 106
has been preserved as it was). The
