Monuments to visit Recife

The mercado de São José gives the temperature of the popular Recife. Built by French architects, the iron market of the São José district is directly inspired by the Grenelle market. It was inaugurated in 1875 and today you can find more than 500 stalls selling a wide variety of products: handicrafts, medicinal herbs, cashew nuts, etc. It is always very pleasant to stroll around and get lost before going to the patio of São Pedro. Be careful, however, when the market closes, the neighborhood becomes empty and unsafe.

For those who take the road on one of the many bridges in the city linking the old Pernambuco to Olinda, it is difficult not to see this military building. Built by the Dutch in 1667, the fort was originally called Frederic Henry in honour of the Prince of Orange but, given its pentagonal structure, it was soon nicknamed Forte das Cinco Pontas (Fort of the Five Points), its current common name. It now houses the Museu da Cidade de Recife.

Gilberto Freyre is known for his Brazilian epic work Masters and Slaves , which deciphers the complex social structures of Brazilian colonial society. His large property in the Apipucos district, where the anthropologist and sociologist Gilberto Freyre lived for more than 40 years, is a former 19th century Casa Grande. This former 19th century "Casa Grande" was transformed into a museum in 1987. There are pieces of ethno-anthropological, artistic and literary interest.