Ricardo Brennand Institute

Ricardo Brennand, an industrialist from a Pernambuco sugar family, built this complex on his own land in the 1990s and 2000s: a castle in English Tudor revival style, moat included, set in gardens with sculpture, housing the collection he spent decades assembling. The armoury is the largest private holding of European edged weapons and armour in the Americas, running to thousands of pieces. The other half is Dutch Brazil - the institute holds the world's largest collection of works by Frans Post, the painter who came with Johan Maurits in the 1630s and produced the first European landscapes of the Americas, alongside maps, documents and Albert Eckhout material from the same period. The building is a folly and knows it.

What you actually see

• A Tudor revival castle - built in the 1990s with a moat and gardens.
• Thousands of arms and armour - the largest private European collection in the Americas.
• The Frans Post holdings - the world's largest group of his Dutch Brazil landscapes.
• Dutch period documents - maps and records from the 1630s occupation.

When to go

All year, closed Mondays. Half a day.

Honest expectations

It is well outside the centre and public transport there is poor - budget for a taxi each way. The site is large and takes longer than expected. Labelling is largely in Portuguese. Photography rules vary by room.

Nearby

The Brennand ceramics workshop is close by; Recife Antigo is east in the city.