recife

Recife is known as the "Venice of Brazil" on account of its bridges, canals and rivers. The capital of Pernambuco is a mixture of past and present. Hidden behind a wall of modern buildings lies the Patio de São Pedro, comprising colonial houses of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries around the cathedral of São Pedro. The old prison has been converted into a popular culture centre, with shops selling fabrics, carpets, items of rope and straw, embroidery and pottery.

Olinda, with its irregular outline, its great buildings erected on the top of hills with their view towards an emerald sea, and the smaller houses winding round the lower slopes, is a magnificent example of an informally created town, typical of Portuguese colonization in Brazil. International recognition of the aesthetic value of Olinda dates from 1982, when it was classified as a World Heritage Site by Unesco.