It is not surprising that a city with a history as rich and diverse as Recife has a living and pulsating culture. Therefore, do not expect Recife to be a city to enjoy only its beaches and craft fairs.
Unlike most coastal capitals of our country, Recife draws more attention for its cultural attractions. Among so many options, we have selected some of the most important for you to guide yourself in the capital of Pernambuco.
the Old Reef
Photo of the Historic Center in Recife, PE
Photo Credit: Ricardo Junior Photos.com.br
Where to start? Recife is home to most of the tourist attractions in the city.
Spending a day walking among the relics of Recife Antigo is one of the coolest tourist tours of the city. Upon entering Rua do Bom Jesus, the visitor feels like passing through a portal, leaving the 21st century and transporting himself to the historical past of Recife. With its cobblestones and old houses, the street houses the first synagogue in the Americas and the Embassy of Olinda Dolls.
Rua da Moeda was named after having housed, in the seventeenth century, the old Mint of the Dutch. Today the street boasts a busy nightlife, in addition to being the address of Galeria Arte Plural, a new but important gallery of Recife.
Rua da Aurora is one of the postcards of the city, with its colorful houses in front of the Capibaribe River.
In the Old Reef are still Marco Zero, Customs, Malakoff Tower, Brum Fort and many other attractions.
See the photo gallery of the Old Recife
Marco Zero
Photo of the Historic Center in Recife, PE
Photo Credit: Ricardo Junior Photos.com.br
Marco Zero brings together some of the most important points of Recife. Also, during important dates, this is where the celebrations take place.
The Ground Zero of Recife marks the beginning of the history of the city and it is from there that the official measures of road distances are made. More than that, Ground Zero is a reference of tourism in the capital, also marking the entrance of Recife Antigo, a historic neighborhood in the city center. There are the Sculptures Park, with works by the Recife artist Francisco Brennand, the Pernambuco Handicraft Center and the Carnival Center. During the carnival and some commemorative dates, it is at Marco Zero that set up a great stage to receive typical shows and performances.
See the photo gallery of the Old Recife
the San Jose Market
Want to know typical fruits and products? Or maybe buy a bunch of souvenirs who stayed home for? In the São José Market there is all this and more! Check it out.
The Municipal Market of São José is one of the main regional distributors of fruits, vegetables, fish, meat and various typical products of Northeastern. Inaugurated in 1875, this is the oldest iron-made construction in Brazil, with materials imported from Europe and architecture inspired by the Grenelle market in Paris.
For those who like to get in touch with the local culture, the São José Market does not leave to be desired. There are several boxes with the most varied regional products. In addition to the typical ingredients of the Northeastern cuisine, you can buy souvenirs, such as beach clothes, the famous stringed leaflets and handicrafts made of leather, straw, clay, wood and both others.
Address: Praça Dom Vital, s/n, São José, Recife.
Hours: Monday to Saturday, from 06h to 17h; Sunday, from 06h to 12h.
Phone: (81) 2424-2322
the Malakoff Tower
The name and architecture are a little bit of the northeastern theme, but the Malakoff Tower was an important part of Recife’s history. Today the building is home to one of the most important cultural centers of the city.
The Malakoff Tower was built to be the gate of the Navy Arsenal, but today houses one of the main centers of Pernambuco culture. At the time it was inaugurated in 1855, Recife followed the news of the Crimean War, in the city of Sevastopol, now part of the Ukrainian territory, where French and English ostensibly attacked the city. Thanks to the heroic resistance of the population, the fortified tower of Malakoff was left intact even with the defeat of the Russian army.
The people of Recife decided to name their tower with the same name, in honor of this battle. Little did they know that a few years later, in the 1920s, the population of Recife itself would intervene to keep its Malakoff Tower also, when threatened to be demolished for the expansion of the city port.
Today the tower is home to an important cultural center of visual arts and music, promoting exhibitions, workshops and courses in the area of cultural production and encouraging various cultural initiatives of the state government. In addition, it is possible to climb to the observatory of the tower and enjoy the beautiful view of the city.
Address: Praça do Arsenal da Marinha, s/n, Recife, Recife.
Hours: Tuesday to Friday, from 10am to 6pm.
Phone: (81) 3184-3180
Kahal Zur Israel Synagogue
Have you heard that Recife could have been the Brazilian New York? The first synagogue in the Americas has much to do with it.
During the Dutch domination, between 1630 and 1657, the Jewish immigrants built Kahal Zur Israel, the first synagogue in the Americas, which today houses the Jewish Center of Pernambuco. After the defeat in the Battle of the Guararapes, the Dutch left Recife for their homeland, but made a scale in uninhabited lands of North America. There they have stayed and settled so well that to this day the city concentrates the largest Jewish community outside of Israel. In the past, it was called New Amsterdam, but since 1664 it goes by the name of New York.
The synagogue still maintains the original floor dating from the period of Dutch domination, as well as displaying the history of European refugees and reconstitutes what would be a typical synagogue in Amsterdam from the 17th century.
Address: Rua do Bom Jesus, 197, Recife Antigo, Recife.
Schedules: Tuesday to Friday, from 09h to 16h30.
Site: www.kahalzurisrael.com
The Golden Chapel
One of the many churches in Recife, the Golden Chapel deserves the visit of lovers of sacred art.
Those interested in sacred art can not miss visiting the Golden Chapel, the most beautiful in Recife. Built during the Baroque period, by the Third Order of São Francisco, the church has its walls and linings bathed in old gold and is part of the architectural complex of the Franciscan Convent along with the Church of Santo Antônio and the Museum of Sacred Art.
Address: Rua do Imperador, Santo Antônio, Recife.
Website: www.capeladourada.com.br
the Ricardo Brennand Institute
Photo by the Brennand Museum in Recife, PE
Photo Credit: Ricardo Junior Photos.com.br
The Brennand family is responsible for much of the artistic heritage of Recife. The Ricardo Brennand Institute brings together some of the most important art collections in the city.
In the neighborhood of Várzea is an important cultural stronghold of Recife, the Ricardo Brennand Institute. Founded in 2002 by collector and art enthusiast Ricardo Brennand, the institute is composed of the São João Castle Museum, a pinacoteca and an art gallery.
At the entrance the visitor is received by several sculptures scattered throughout the garden that surrounds the entire architectural complex of the institute. Among them, highlight the Lady and the Horse, by the Colombian Fernando Botero, known for his own style of portraying everyday life with images of people and animals quite plump.
Due to the history of the city, the institute’s collection is composed of many works of the colonial period and also of the time known as Dutch Brazil, during the Dutch occupation of the northeast, between 1630 and 1654.
The pinacoteca houses the largest collection of works by the painter Frans Post, with 15 paintings in total. At the São João Castle Museum you can visit one of the largest collections of melee weapons in the world.
Address: Alameda Antônio Brennand, Várzea, Recife.
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
See the Brennand Museum Photo Gallery
The Francisco Brennand Ceramic Workshop
In the Park of Sculptures, in the old Recife, it is possible to check out some works of Francisco Brennand. In his ceramic studio the visitor can know much more about this one of the main artists of Pernambuco.
Another important member of the Brennand family offers a must-see attraction in the Várzea neighborhood. Francisco Brennand opens the doors of the pottery he inherited from his father so that tourists and locals know his pottery studio and hundreds of his works scattered among the gardens and lakes of the place.
Ten years ago the Academy was inaugurated, with a collection of drawings and paintings of the artist. In addition, the show room exhibits decorated family objects, such as dishes, teapots, ashtrays and more.
Address: Property Santo Cosme e Damião, s/n, Várzea, Recife.
Hours: Monday to Thursday, from 08h to 17h; Friday, from 08h to 16h.
Website: www.brennand.com.br
the Gilberto Freyre Foundation
To get to know one of the most important sociologists in Brazil and also to escape a little of the gray of the city, the Gilberto Freyre Foundation is an attraction that should be on your list.
One of the most important children in Recife, sociologist Gilberto Freyre wrote important social and anthropological studies on the Brazilian and northeastern reality. Freyre was so important for her time that she received from Queen Elizabeth II the title of Sir, being one of the only Brazilians to date to receive this honor.
One of his most famous books is Casa Grande & Senzala, a book based on his reflections on the racist bleaching doctrines existing in Brazil.
In the neighborhood of Apipucos is the old man where Gilberto Freyre lived for more than 40 years and today houses a complete museum about his life and work. The decoration of the house remains the same since his death, in addition to having much of his immense collection of books, personal objects and paintings made by Freyre himself.
Address: Rua Dois Irmãos, 320, Apipucos, Recife.
Opening hours: Monday to Friday, from 09h to 16h30.
Website: www.fgf.org.br
Museum of Man of the Northeast
To learn more about the culture of the man from the northeast, this museum brings together pieces that portray its history and traditions.
Founded in 1979 by Gilberto Freyre, the Museum of the Man of the Northeast brings together the collection of the old Museum of Anthropology, Museum of Popular Art and Sugar Museum. With about 15 thousand pieces that depict the history of the northeastern man, the museum has the mission of spreading the cultural heritage of the region, material or immaterial. There it is possible to get in touch with the heritage of the peoples who influenced the northeastern history, such as the Indians, the Europeans and the Africans.
Luxurious collections of ceramics, popular toys, work materials of the ingenuity, construction materials, collection of brandy, pieces of local artists, objects of the large houses and senzalas and so many other artifacts that are part of the construction of the northeastern culture are on display in this interesting museum.
Address: Avenida 17 de Agosto, 2187, Casa Forte, Recife.
Hours: Tuesday to Friday, from 08:30 to 17h; Saturday, Sunday and holiday, from 13h to 17h.
Phone: (81) 3073-6340
Catamaran Ride on the Capibaribe River
A traditional tour in Recife is the city tour of the Rio Capibaribe.
Have you heard that Recife is the Brazilian Venice? There are 5 rivers that cross the city, in addition to many canals and bridges that make the crossing between the neighborhoods of the city.
A classic tour is to take a catamaran and get to know the city from another perspective. In about an hour, the tourist takes a water tour through important attractions in downtown Recife, such as Ground Zero and the Sculpture Park.
Mandatory Tour: Get to know Olinda.
Impossible to visit Recife and not to know Olinda. The two cities complement each other so much in the tourist attractions, in the culture, in the gastronomy and in the revelry as well.
The nearest neighbor of Recife deserves equal attention when it comes to knowing the cultural attractions. It is not without reason that UNESCO declared Olinda as the historical and cultural heritage of humanity. There are churches and chapels of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, historical monuments, a rich artistic and cultural production and beautiful mansions printed on its famous slopes.
Stroll in Maria Farinha Beach
In the municipality of Paulista, 20 kilometers from Recife, the best known beach is Maria Farinha, with its beautiful landscape of calm sea and great for water sports. There is also Venice Water Park, much sought after by families with children.
Beaches of Cabo de Santo Agostinho
The city of Cabo Santo Agostinho is about 40 kilometers from Recife and receives visitors to spend the day on its beautiful beaches. The most well-known and visited are Calhetas, Pedra do Xaréu, Paiva and Gaibu.
The island of Itamaracá
Photo of the island of Itamaracá, PE
Photo Credit: Ricardo Junior Photos.com.br
With paradisiacal landscapes, the island of Itamaracá attracts tourists who are in Recife for an unforgettable tour. The trip, which lasts about 40 kilometers from the capital of Pernambuco, is worth not only for the nature of the place, but also for the historical monuments inherited from the Dutch domain period. In addition, the island has a large ecological reserve that houses the Fish-Boi Preservation Center.
See the Photo Gallery of the Island of Itamaraca
