Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
5
elegant central avenues converge on two luxuriant squares:
Praça da República
and
Praça
Batista Campos
. These border the old heart of the city, the harbour and colonial centre -
the focus of intensive revitalization efforts in recent years, which have transformed the
riverfront into the Amazon's most attractive and interesting urban space.
The first thing visitors will notice, however, is the always hot - and often wet -
climate
, which takes some getting used to by day (at night, however, it's always
pleasant). The rain is torrential and the
rainy season
runs from January to May.
Fortunately it falls as showers rather than persistent rain, and typically the skies clear
after an hour or so of even the most intense downpour. The central zone of the city is
lined by
mango trees
, over a century old and proportionately massive, which provide
shade and protection from the broiling sun. When strolling around, be sure to do so
slowly, and remember mangoes ripen in October - keep half an eye and ear out for
falling fruit or you're in for a lump on your head and some intensive shampooing.
Brief history
Founded just a couple of decades later than the colonial cities of the Northeast coast,
Belém at its heart looks very much like them, with the obligatory Portuguese fort,
cathedral square and governor's palace. Strategically placed on the Amazon river estuary
commanding the main channel, the city was settled by the
Portuguese
in 1616. Its
original role was to protect the river mouth and establish the Portuguese claim to the
region, but it rapidly became a slave port of indigenous peoples and a source of
cacao
,
timber and spices gathered from the forests inland.
In the early nineteenth century Belém was devastated by the Cabanagem, the
bloodiest rebellion in Brazilian history (see box, p.337), before the town experienced an
extraordinary revival in the Amazon
rubber boom
; the few decades of prosperity left an
indelible architectural mark on the city. Much of the proceeds were invested in houses
and palaces, most of which still survive (unlike in Manaus) and make Belém one of
Brazil's top cities to walk around, despite the heat. After the rubber market crashed just
before World War I the city entered a long decline, but it kept afloat on the back of
trade in Brazil nuts and the timber industry until the highways and development
projects from the 1960s onwards turned it into the city it is today.
Praça da República
he
Praça da República
- an attractive cross between a square and a park with plenty of
trees affording valuable shade - is the best place from which to get your bearings and
start a walking tour of Belém's downtown and riverfront attractions. The 20m-high
marble monument within the square was erected to commemorate the first anniversary
of the 1889 Republic of Brazil. At the top of the monument is a statue of a female
holding onto an olive branch, symbolizing peace.
ORIENTATION IN BELÉM
Avenida Presidente Vargas
is the modern town's main axis, running from the Praça da
República and the landmark Teatro da Paz right to the riverfront. A short walk down Avenida
Serzedelo Correa, to the east, takes you to
Praça Batista Campos
, another central landmark.
Buses coming into Belém's centre from the airport and rodoviária travel down the dock road
before turning up Vargas. Most of the city's hotels are along Presidente Vargas, or just off it.
There is one confusing thing about the city that's important to understand. The main
riverfront focus for nightlife is “
Estação das Docas
”. You might want to get a boat from the
docks, in which case you need to head for “as docas”. The area around
Avenida Visconde
de Souza Franco
, a couple of streets north of Travessa Benjamin Constant, is also a likely
destination, however, thanks to its bars and restaurants. This region is known as “Docas”,
without the definite article, which creates immense potential for confusion with taxi drivers.
