Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
still further in the next few years, including a new cruise ship terminal, beautification of
the beachfront
Avenida Beira Mar
, a giant aquarium or
Acquário
(the third largest in the
world), and the redevelopment of chic shopping street
Rua Monsenhor Tabosa
, completed
in 2014. Not everyone is happy with the money being spent; the city's World Cup 2014
stadium, the shimmering
Arena Castelão
, inflamed protests about poor public services in
2013 and the aquarium has garnered a similar reaction.
For now,
Centro
forms the gritty commercial, administrative and religious heart of the
city, though it's little more than a heaving, budget shopping district today. These days
most of the action lies to the east, where the main city beaches and the chic middle-class
bairros
of
Praia de Iracema
and
Meireles
are to be found. These give way to the
favelas
and docks of the port area,
Mucuripe
, the gateway to the eastern beaches, notably
Praia
do Futuro
, beyond which the city peters out - this is where people actually swim (the
other city beaches are really just for lounging and drinking). Fortaleza's year-round heat
is mitigated somewhat by the constant sea breezes sweeping in from the Atlantic,
making the beach districts even more enticing.
Centro de Turismo
Rua Senador Pompeu 350 • Mon-Fri 8am-6pm, Sat 8am-2pm • Free •
T
85 3101 5508
Housed in the city's old prison, completed in 1866 and in use to the 1970s, the
Centro
de Turismo
is not a tourist of
ce but a shopping mall of arts and craft stalls, everything
from local lace and tasty cashew nuts to hand-crafted dolls, toys and more standard
souvenirs. Quality is generally good and prices reasonable, and the main building is
surrounded by the one-time exercise yard, shaded by mango trees - a good place to
grab a fresh juice from the kiosk here (R$3). Upstairs is the
Museu de Arte e Cultura
Populares
, with an excellent collection of
cearense artesanato
of all kinds, though the
museum has been closed for several years - it's supposed to reopen in 2015, but don't
count on it.
4
Passeio Público and Praça dos Mártires
One of the few survivors of Adolfo Herbster's nineteenth-century Fortaleza, the
Passeio
Público
is a short pedestrian promenade designed in the 1860s. It cuts through the
pleasantly shady
Praça dos Mártires
, a lush tropical park framed by the elegant
Santa
Casa de Misericórdia de Fortaleza
, the first city hospital, completed in 1861. The
Passeio looks out across the warehouses to the distant waterfront, and stallholders set
up chairs and tables under the trees, from where they sell cold drinks and simple food.
It's also a good place for a sit-down lunch.
Mercado Central and Feira José Avelino
Rua Alberto Nepomuceno 199 • Mon-Fri 7am-6pm, Sat 7am-4pm, Sun 7am-2pm •
T
85 3454 8586,
W
mercadocentraldefortaleza.com.br
Fortaleza's modern
Mercado Central
is a wonderful place to explore, a huge complex
holding hundreds of small stores, most selling
artesanato
for which the city is famed.
The market, along with the nearby stores along
Rua José Avelino
, is the best place to
buy a hammock in the city: if you're going to use one on your travels, purchase it with
care (see box, p.373). The controversial and informal
Feira
José Avelino
(along the
street of the same name)
is effectively a
night market
that runs from Wednesday at
7pm to 8am on Thursday, and from 7pm on Saturday to noon on Sunday - you'll see
thousands of buyers and sellers from all over the Northeast loading up buses around
Centro on hursdays and Sundays.
Catedral Metropolitana
Rua Sobral • Daily 7am-6pm • Free •
T
85 3226 1129
Looming over Centro like a grimy Victorian throwback, Fortaleza's
Catedral
Metropolitana
is a huge Neogothic oddity completed in 1978, though its interior is a
surprisingly bright, open space enhanced by dazzling stained-glass windows. Designed
