In order to get to know Brazil's roots, where nature is abundant and the country offers its most extensive display of popular culture, you need to visit the northeast. This region includes nine states: Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Paraiba, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte and Sergipe, and one territory, the Fernando de Noronha island. There, you will encounter summer weather year-round, as well as the most beautiful beaches on the continent. The beaches range from the fascinating Canoa Quebrada beach, in Ceará, to Genipabu and its sand dunes in Rio Grande do
Norte, Porto de Galinhas in Pernambuco and the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, among many others, where every imaginable type of water sport is practiced. The delicious swing of typical dances, such as forró, frevo, ciranda, maracatu, and lambada, as well as the electrical instrument caravans and Carnival, will easily captivate you. You will savor a wide array of African dishes seasoned with palm oil and pepper sauces, as well as many seafood and cassava dishes accompanied by Brazil's most famous national drink, the caipirinha (distilled sugar cane with lemon and sugar), or by a refreshing coconut milk. The regional handicrafts produce an extensive variety of souvenirs.
You will find in this region two sites that have been proclaimed by Unesco as World Heritage sites: Olinda, Pernambuco, the birthplace of Portuguese civilization in Brazil, and Pelourinho in Salvador, Bahia. At Pedra Furada National Park in Raimundo Nonato County, Piauí you will find cave paintings dating back to the first traces of human presence in the Americans.
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States
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Cities
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Alagoas
Bahia
Ceará
Maranhão
Paraíba
Pernambuco
Piaui
Rio Grande do Norte
Sergipe |
Maceió
Salvador
Fortaleza
São Luis
João Pessoa
Recife
Olinda
Fernando De Noronha
Teresina
Natal
Aracaju |
Maceio
Maceió is the capital of one of Brazil's smallest states, Alagoas (state population: 2.5 million). It lies in the coastal strip between the Lagoa Mundaú and the Atlantic. The capital of Alagoas is 292 kilometres (181 miles) of Aracaju and 259 kilometres (161 miles) south of Recife.
Maceió developed out of a sugar-cane plantation established in the 18th century. Present-day Maceió (population: 525,000) is a friendly city with a distinct modern feel. The city commands a small historical area in the commercial centre, where some of the graceful squares and buildings of Maceió's past remain. The best place to get some sense of the old Maceió is Praça dos Martírios, the city's finest square. Not to oversee is the lighthouse (farol) that stands in a reside |
