Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Murad
, has been governor of Maranhão since 2009. Today São Luís's two ports, iron
exports and huge aluminium plant drive the local economy - despite the shabby,
dilapidated state of the
centro histórico
, there's plenty of money in the city today.
Restoration of the old centre has been ongoing since 1989, but as you'll see, there's still
plenty to be done, and the area remains inhabited by some of the city's poorest residents.
Igreja da Sé
Av Dom Pedro II • Daily 8-11.30am & 2-6pm • Free
Formally the Catedral de Nossa Senhora da Vitória, but commonly known as the
Igreja
da Sé
, the city's cream-and-white cathedral was completed in 1699 as part of an older
Jesuit college. It's been remodelled many times and the current Neoclassical incarnation
dates from 1922. Note the lovely tiled floors, painted ceiling and ostentatious gilded
gold
retábulo
(altarpiece) in the chancel, one of the finest in the country from the
seventeenth century, attributed to Portuguese sculptor Manuel Manços. The whole
complex was being given a thorough restoration at the time of writing, which will
include the creation of a new
Museu de Arte Sacra
by the end of 2014 (in the adjacent
Palácio Episcopal, to the left of the church).
Avenida Dom Pedro II
Palácio dos Leões • Av Dom Pedro II • Mon, Wed & Fri 2-5.30pm • Free •
T
98 3232 9789
Stately
Avenida Dom Pedro II
is the traditional civic heart of the city, lined by of
cial
buildings. The grandest is the tropical Georgian elegance of the state governor's
residence, the
Palácio dos Leões
, built between 1766 and 1776. The oldest building
on the avenue is the
Prefeitura
, which dates from 1689: it is known as the
Palácio La
Ravardière
after the French buccaneer who founded São Luís and is commemorated by
a piratical bust on the pavement outside. Opposite lies the stately
Fórum
, the Palácio da
Justiça (state courthouse) and not as old as it looks, opening in 1948.
4
Rua Portugal and the Casa das Tulhas
Casa das Tulhas Largo do Comercio • Mon-Fri 6am-8pm, Sat 6am-6pm, Sun 6am-1pm
The finest array of
azulejos
facades in the city runs along
Rua Portugal
(aka
Rua do
Trapiche
). This area is the best-restored part of the
centro histórico
, given a magical feel
by the brightly coloured tiles, and has several bars and restaurants and a lively street
life. The main focus is the hodgepodge of buildings in the centre of Lago do Comercio
that make up
Mercado da Praia Grande
, also known as
Casa das Tulhas
(“Granary
House”). This nineteenth-century market (completed in 1861) is now ringed with
stalls selling
artesanato
,
locally produced foods (such as
cachaça
,
camarão seco
or dried
shrimp, and
tiquira
, the local brandy), quality cotton clothing, hammocks and
tablecloths, with a few snack stalls in the centre.
More handicrafts await at the western end of Rua Portugal, near the water, where the
Centro de Artesanatos
(no. 152) occupies the old premises of merchant Adelino Silva,
who served as Portuguese consul from 1968 to 1983. Local painters sell their work in
the old warehouses nearby, dubbed
Morada das Artes
(Mon-Sat 9am-5pm; free).
Opposite is the
Casa do Maranhão
, the vast customs house completed in 1873 and
currently closed indefinitely for renovation.
Museu de Artes Visuais
Rua Portugal 273 • Tues-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat & Sun 9am-4pm • R$2.50 •
T
98 3218 9938
The city's main art museum, the
Museu de Artes Visuais
begins with a comprehensive
survey of Portuguese
azulejos
- panels of all types and patterns from the eighteenth to
the twentieth century - and includes a special display on
Catulo da Paixão Cearense
,
the poet and musician, who was born in the city in 1863. Two floors of galleries
upstairs are dedicated to a mixed bag of paintings and sculpture by local artists,
organized by theme - women, landscapes and so on - which make it a lot more
