Monuments to visit Brésil Nordeste

The neoclassical Potengi Palace dates from 1865. The Maranhão Theatre dates from 1904. The Palácio Potengi cultural space, or simply Palácio Potengi or Palácio da Cultura, is an imposing historical building dating from the 19th century located in Praça Sete de Setembro (September Square). The building, in neoclassical style, was the seat of government until the 1980s, and previously housed the State Assembly. The building is classified in the IPHAN. Today, it houses the Pinacoteca of the State of Rio Grande do Norte.

It is a former prison, now occupied by small craft lodges. The building, which dates from the 19th century, was once an orphanage, then a residence, before being transformed and restored to house the tourist centre. It is one of the best places in the city for shopping. Shirts, dresses, hammocks, home decor, lace fabrics and souvenirs. On Thursday evenings, the center becomes a very lively place. This is the Forró do turista, a highlight of the Potiguar night.

This fort was built in January 1598. Isolated in the middle of the sands, at the mouth of the Potengi River, it is shaped like a star. It was built to defend the city against the French and pirate attacks. Known as Fortaleza dos Reis Magos, the fort was the first building in the city. It was begun by the Portuguese on January 6, 1598 (the day of the Three Kings), hence the origin of the name. The star-shaped fortress is the origin of the city's construction and is its main historical and cultural monument.

Brazil, unlike its Andean neighbours, has few old stone monuments carved by human hands. The oldest monument in the country is a Corinthian column that is said to come from the Capitol of Rome, donated by Mussolini in 1928 to commemorate the flight of two Italians, Carlo del Prete and Arturo Ferrarin, on board the Savoia, which linked Rome to Natal without a stopover. On July 5, 1928, these pilots reached the coast of Potiguar from Rome, after a non-stop flight of more than 49 hours, covering a distance of more than 7,000 kilometers.

This large building seems to observe the coast of Alagoas. Built in the 20th century, and located on the Nossa Senhora da Piedade hill in the town of Porto de Pedras, this lighthouse offers a beautiful view of the Coral Coast, especially at sunset. The structure of the Porto de Pedras lighthouse is a truncated reinforced concrete tower, with white and black horizontal stripes, 90 meters high and 36 meters in focal height. It was inaugurated in 1933. It was the first lighthouse to operate with an acetylene gas system. It was electrified in 1973.

The market was built at the end of the 17th century and restored according to the original plans. Handicrafts, wood carvers' workshops, engravings, paintings. After the fire that destroyed Marim dos Caetés in 1601, the city began to be rebuilt by the Rua de São Bento, with the Palace of the Governors, then came the House of the Chamber and the prison, which were one above the other, and in front of them the public market. The market is U-shaped and has typical characteristics of buildings from the colonial period,

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.

This fort began to be built in 1631, one year after the capture of Recife by the Dutch. It is one of the most imposing remains of the Dutch presence in the region. Erected at the southern tip of the island in 1631 by order of the Prince of Nassau, and rebuilt by the Portuguese in 1654, it played an important role in the battles between the Portuguese colonies of Recife and Olinda. The Fort of Orange, (in reference to the then masters, the Dutch), also known as the Fort of Itamaracá, is located on the island of Itamaracá.

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