Sights in Recife
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Instituto Ricardo Brennand
From Tuesday to Friday afternoons, you can visit the scenic Instituto Ricardo Brennand, Oficina Cerâmica Francisco Brennand's cousin’s museum. This contains a massive collection of European and Brazilian art, swords, armor and historical artifacts in a fake medieval castle on lovely grounds.
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Oficina Cerâmica Francisco Brennand
A surreal sculpture garden of bizarre sexualized earthworms, frogs and turtles covers the landscape at the unique Oficina Cerâmica Francisco Brennand. The artist Francisco Brennand, descended from 19th-century Irish immigrants and considered Brazil’s greatest ceramicist, revitalized his family’s abandoned tile factory to create his own line of decorative ceramic tiles. The rest of the huge space is dedicated to a seemingly exhaustive exhibition of his peculiar sculptures, including gardens with Moorish arches and rows of contorted busts. A trip out to the Oficina Cerâmica, set amid thick Atlantic rain forest some 10km west of downtown, is a regional highlight, so set asi…
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Fundação Gilberto Freyre
Fans of Brazilian literature and history should visit the Fundação Gilberto Freyre, 8km northwest of downtown, home of the author of the revolutionary 1933 book Casa Grande e Senzala (published as The Masters and the Slaves in English) about life on Pernambuco sugar plantations. Catch the Sitio dos Pintos/Dois Irmãos bus west from Av Conde da Boa Vista downtown.
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Sinagoga Kahal Zur Israel
The first synagogue in the Americas, Sinagoga Kahal Zur Israel, now a Jewish Cultural Center open to visitors, still has a bit of its original 17th-century structure and interesting murals (in Portuguese and English) depicting the role of Jews in Recife’s development.
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Museu do Homem do Nordeste
The Museu do Homem do Nordeste, has anthropological exhibits on Northeastern life ranging from slave chains to Carnaval costumes, with good photos throughout. It's extensive and well done, but was closed for renovations at research time, so check to see if it has reopened.
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Igreja da Ordem Terceira de São Francisco
The most important building to visit in the city center is the Igreja da Ordem Terceira de São Francisco, a church dating from 1697 with a Capela Dourada (Golden Chapel) that is one of the finest examples of Brazilian baroque architecture.
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Boa Viagem
The only beach worth visiting in Recife is at Boa Viagem. It's a busy urban beach, packed on weekends and a good place to watch or play beach sports, but very few people enter the water, which is unclean and subject to shark attacks.
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Memorial Chico Science
This new memorial highlights the work of former Nação Zumbi singer Chico Science, a revered musician and founder of the mangue beat cultural movement who died tragically in a car accident in Recife in 1997.
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Parque 13 de Maio
A great place to hang out, especially on a Sunday, is Parque 13 de Maio in the Boa Vista district. There's a lot of action in the park, including capoeira, heated domino games and even more heated political debates.
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Praça da República
Praça da República at the northern end of Santo Antônio has a formal park with tall trees and a pretty fountain, and is surrounded by imposing 19th-century buildings.
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Museu da Cidade do Recife
This museum is housed in the Forte das Cinco Pontas, a fort built by the Dutch in 1630. It has interesting exhibits on Recife’s history and popular culture.
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Rua Bom Jesus
Rua Bom Jesus was formerly known as Rua dos Judeos (Jews' St) because a number of Jewish businesses opened here during Dutch rule (1630-54).
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Marco Zero
The waterside Marco Zero, a small monument on a broad square, marks the spot where the Portuguese founded Recife in 1537.
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Pátio de São Pedro
The Pátio de São Pedro is a traffic-free square lined with bars, restaurants and colorfully painted 19th-century houses.
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Concatedral de São Pedro dos Clérigos
This is an 18th-century baroque church with incredibly fine wood carvings. It overlooks the Pátio de São Pedro.
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Capela Dourada
This church, begun in 1696, is a gem of Brazilian baroque. It also houses the Museu de Arte Sacra.
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