Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Brasileira”) on the political history of Brazil, a gallery dedicated to ex-president
José
Sarney
(of course) and the (of
cial gifts he received during his tenure.
Igreja do Desterro
Largo do Desterro • Mon-Fri 9am-6pm • Free
Many
churches
in the city have exteriors dating from the seventeenth century, though
none of the interiors has survived successive restorations. The most beautiful of these
is the
Igreja do Desterro
, with its Byzantine onion domes, at the southern end of the
centro histórico
. The first church on this site was built in 1618, but was thoroughly
looted by the Dutch. After the whole thing collapsed in 1832, the local Afro-Brazilian
community rallied around activist José Lé and rebuilt it.
Museu Histórico e Artistico do Maranhão
Rua do Sol 302 • Tues-Sun 9am-5pm • R$5 •
T
98 3218 9920
This intriguing museum (another José Sarney initiative) comprises two parts, the first
section offering a glimpse of what life was like during the golden age of São Luís.
Housed in the Solar Gomes do Souza, a high-ceilinged mansion completed around
1836, the upstairs has been beautifully renovated with period furniture and decorative
arts once common here - Chinese porcelain, jade, a ninteenth-century
chocolateira
and
plenty of crystal. Look out also for an actual Picasso,
Tauromaquia
, one of his
bullfighting series.
Next door, but part of the same complex and entrance fee, the
Museu de Arte
Sacra
occupies the Sobrado do Barão de Grajaú, named after owner and politician
Carlos Fernandes Ribeiro who was made “baron” in 1884. Inside are some
moderately interesting religious artworks from the seventeenth, eighteenth and
4
BUMBA
MEU
BOI
Bumba-meu-boi
, which dominates every June in São Luís (generally starting on Santo
Antônio's day,
June 13
), is worth making some effort to catch: there's no more atmospheric
popular festival in Brazil. A dance with distinctive music, performed by a costumed troupe
of characters backed by drummers and brass instruments, it blends the Portuguese, African
and Indian influences of both the state and Brazil. It originated on the plantations, and the
troupes the
maranhenses
rate highest still come from the old plantation towns of the
interior - Axixá, Pinheiro and Pindaré. To mark the day of São João on
June 24
, the interior
towns send their bands to São Luís, where at night they sing and dance outside churches
and in squares in the centre. Seeing the spectacular dances and costumes, and hearing the
spellbindingly powerful music echoing down the colonial streets, is a magical experience.
Everything revolves around the
Igreja de São João Batista
, on Rua da Paz, and the
Igreja
de Santo Antônio
, four blocks north. Many choose to follow the
bois
, as the troupes are
called, through the streets: if you feel less energetic, the best place to see everything is
Praça de Santo Antônio, the square in front of the church where all the
bois
converge, in
which you can sit and drink between troupes.
Bumba-meu-boi has a stock of characters and re-enacts the story of a plantation owner
leaving a bull in the care of a slave, which dies and then magically revives. The bull, black velvet
decorated with sequins and a cascade of ribbons, with someone inside whirling it around, is
at the centre of a circle of musicians. The songs are belted out, with lyrics declaimed first by a
lead caller, backed up only by a mandolin, and then joyously roared out by everyone when the
drums and brass come in.
Bumba
drums are unique: hollow, and played by strumming a metal
spring inside, they give out a deep, hypnotically powerful backbeat.
Bumba-meu-boi starts late, the troupes not hitting the centre until 11pm at the earliest, but
people start congregating, either at the waterfront or in the square, soon after dark.
Bois
don't
appear every night, except during the last few days before the 24th: ask at the place where you're
staying, as everyone knows when a good
boi
is on. The best day of all is
June 29
(St Peter's Day),
when all the
bois
congregate at the Igreja de São Pedro from 10pm until dawn.
