Penedo in Brazil

A more interesting crossing into Alagoas than the usual arrival, along the coast from north or south, can be made by frequent ferry crossings from Neópolis in Sergipe, to Penedo some 35 km from the mouth of the Rio São Francisco.

Penedo is a delight - a kind of forgotten Ouro Preto sweltering in the tropical heat on the banks of the sluggish Rio São Francisco, just across the water from Sergipe. Its colonial streets clamber up a series of hills from the banks of the river and are lined with wonderful old buildings. There's a stunning baroque church at every other turn, and barely a tourist in sight. The town was founded in 1565; it was overthrown by the Dutch (who built a fort

here) in 1637, and then re-taken by the Portuguese shortly after. It developed as a trading port in the 17th and 18th centuries and grew rich from the gold and diamonds transported

down the Rio São Francisco from the interior of Bahia and Minas. Very few of the long two-masted sailing vessels that used to cruise on the river can be seen now, although there are plenty of smaller craft. Boats travel down the river to a series of beautiful white-sand beaches in both Sergipe and Alagaoas; these include

Arambipe

and

Peba

. The latter (in Alagoas) is also reachable by road. Either side of the river mouth are turtle nesting grounds, which are protected.

Ins and outs

The

rodoviária

is on the river front on Avenida Beira Rio, near the service station. There is one daily bus from Salvador (via Aracaju). Four buses a day run from Maceió, as well as

combis

The very friendly and helpful

tourist office

, www.penedo.al.gov.br, has useful maps of the city marked with all the principal sights, hotels and restaurants and can organize guided tours of the baroque buildings, sometimes in English.

Sights

The most impressive building in the city is the church of

Nossa Senhora da Corrente

(1784)

named 'Our Lady of the Current' presumably in homage to the river, which ran swiftly and powerfully past the town until the construction

of the Rio São Francisco dam in the late 20th century. It is one of the finest pieces of Portuguese baroque in northeastern Brazil, built on an intimate scale such as those in Ouro Preto, rather than being grand like the churches of Olinda or Salvador. The simple façade hides a rich interior covered in gold leaf and centred on a splendid painted and gilt altarpiece replete with blue and rose marble. The nave is lined with masterful

azulejo

panels, and paintings by the Pernambucan Portuguese artist Libório Lázaro Lial, who was also responsible for much of the ecclesiastical decoration in the city. According to legend, fugitive slaves were hidden inside the church by a trap door behind one of the side altars.

On Praça Barão de Penedo is the neoclassical

Igreja Matriz

(closed to visitors) and the 18th-century

Casa da Aposentadoria

(1782). East and a little below this square is the Praça Rui Barbosa, where you'll find the

Convento de São Francisco

(1783) and the church of

Nossa Senhora dos Anjos

whose façade is topped with typically Portuguese-baroque filigree flourishes. As you enter the church, the altar on the right depicts God's eyes on the world, surrounded by the three races (indigenous, black and white). The church a fine trompe l'oeil ceiling (1784), also by Libório Lázaro Lial, which recalls Mestre Atahyde's ceiling in the Igreja São Francisco de Assis in Ouro Preto . The convent is still in use.

The church of

Rosário dos Pretos

(1775-1816), is open to visitors, as are

Nossa Senhora da Corrente

(1764), and

São Gonçalo Garcia

(1758-1770). The latter has a particularly fine baroque interior and several market are held outside on weekdays. A wander around them feels like a trip back in time to an older Alagoas. Fishermen sell estuary bream straight out of the wheelbarrow, hacked up bits of cow hang unrefrigerated from meat-hooks in the heat next to stalls offering everything from baskets of home-made soap to pocket calculators. Vast sacks of grain, rice, flour and beans sit next to little hand-drawn carts in front of algae-covered walls of 400-year-old buildings and above the flurry and fluster megaphones blare out special offers and political slogans, broken by the occasional peel of a baroque church bell.

On the same street is the pink

Teatro 7 de Setembro

with a lovely little conch-shaped auditorium dating from 1884. There are river views from the

Rocheira

just behind

Pousada Estylos

. Before the construction of the São Francisco dam, the river used to wash against the stones immediately below the parapet; you can still see the tide mark, some 4 m higher than it is today.

There are two museums. The most interesting is the

Paço Imperial

. Emperor Dom Pedro II stayed in this handsome mansion in 1859 and the building has been trading on the glory ever since. It now preserves a wonderful ceiling painting by Francisco Lopes Ruis, as well as furniture and artefacts that once belonged to the Portuguese high society families and church art. There

are great views out over the river from the second floor. The

Casa de Penedo

, displays photographs and books on, or by, local figures.

This is edited copy from Footprint Handbooks. For comprehensive details (incl address, tel no, directions, opening times and prices) please refer to book or individual chapter PDF

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