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International tourists have thus far paid little heed to this city of 800,000 and the state, Maranhao, of which it is capital.
During the second half of June, life in Maranhao, and especially in Sao Luiz, centers around the effervescent festival of Sao Joao, during which joyful throngs drum, sing and dance their way through the Old Town, exuberantly acting out the pageant-cum-dance known as Bumbameu-boi. A dancer portraying the bull, boi estrela, symbol of wealth, dressed in a papier-mache costume decorated with glass pearls and sequins, is exposed to various dangers that are depicted in a farcical style. The loud and boisterous Bumba-meu-boi spectacle has its origins in protests against Portuguese and ecclesiastical domination during colonial times. But for modern-day participants it's just a brincadeira mais Linda: "pure unadulterated fun."
| Sao Luis |
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For three years in the early 17th century Sao Luis was used as a base by the French, and then came under Dutch control for an equally short period (1641-1644). The architecture in the historic town center, a registered national monument, is predominantly Portuguese, with facades featuring Portuguese azujelos that help keep the buildings cool.
Sao Luis is a port city situated on a pensinsula that it shares with the towns of Paqo do Lumiar, Sao Jose do Ribamar, Anil and Itaqui. The latter has a timesaving car-ferry service to Itauna, from which you can easily drive to the neighboring city of Para.
Visitors wishing to take a day trip to Alcantra can choose between the aging passenger ferries or the more modern aerobarco craft at the dock in Sao Luis, from whence they are whisked in 75 minutes to this 17th-century colonial village, which lies on the opposite (mainland) shore. Electricity only arrived in this dilapidated village in 1988 after the Brazilian government began building a rocket base nearby. Some buildings in the village were never completed, among them the parish church, Matriz de Sao Matias, whose walls, made using whale oil, collapsed before so much as one mass was celebrated. The palaces of two families who were vying with each other to pay homage to Emperor Dom Pedro II upon the occasion of his visit also remained unfinished, because the Emperor angrily decided not to come after all. | |
