Sao Luis Historic Center

Sao Luis is the only Brazilian state capital founded by the French, established in 1612 and named for Louis XIII, taken by the Portuguese three years later and held by the Dutch from 1641 to 1644. Its historic centre is a dense grid of eighteenth and nineteenth century townhouses whose facades are covered in azulejos - glazed Portuguese tiles, imported as ballast and used here at a scale found nowhere else in Brazil, both for decoration and because they shed the heat and rain of an equatorial climate. Thousands of buildings survive. Restoration has been uneven: some streets are immaculate and others are roofless shells with trees growing through them, which is the honest condition of the place.

History

The Tupinambá lived here before the Europeans arrived. The earliest Portuguese history of the site is unclear: by one account it began as a small Portuguese-Spanish settlement in 1531, which was abandoned, and in 1612 it passed to the French as part of the short-lived Equatorial France, of which no buildings remain. The Portuguese took it back three years later, and in 1615 the engineer Francisco Frias de Mesquita laid out the grid plan that the city still follows; the Dutch held it from 1641 to 1644, and building took off in the 18th and 19th centuries with the Company of Grão-Pará and the cotton boom. The historic centre covers 220 hectares with about 4,000 properties of the 18th and 19th centuries, and part of it was declared a World Heritage Site in 1997 (Wikipedia, Historic Centre of São Luís).

What's there

• Tiled facades at scale - azulejos across thousands of townhouses.
• A French foundation - the only Brazilian capital begun by France, in 1612.
• Dutch occupation traces - the three years from 1641 in the record.
• Uneven restoration - immaculate streets beside roofless shells.

When to go

July to December, the drier half; late June for the Bumba-meu-boi season. Two days.

Before you go

A substantial part of the centre is derelict, and decay is visible everywhere. Care is needed at night and on quiet streets by day. Heat and humidity are heavy year round. Some restored museums keep short hours.

Nearby

Alcantara is across the bay by boat; the Lençois Maranhenses are east.

Key facts