São Luís, Maranhão

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São Luís is the capital of the state of Maranhão, Brazil. The city is located on an island at the delta of Pindaré and Itapecuru Rivers, in a bay just off the Atlantic Ocean. Its coordinates are 2.50° south, 44.30° west. The city proper has a population of some 942,300 people (as of 2005 IBGE speculations). The metropolitan area totals 1,227,659 (ranked as the 16th largest in Brazil).

The city is a sea port, through which a substantial part of Brazil's iron ore, originating from the (pre)-Amazon region, is exported. The city's main industries including textile factories and sugar refining. São Luís is home of the Federal University of Maranhão.

The city celebrates the Bumba-meu-boi festival every June. Its gray-like water beaches (due to algis) share the beauty of those of other States in Brazil's north-east, but with less touristic exploitation.

São Luís was the home town of famous Brazilian Samba singer Alcione, Brazil's former President José Sarney, Belgian-naturalised soccer player Luís Oliveira (known in Italy as "Lulugol" and known in Belgian as "Oliveirrá") and most recently Zeca Baleiro, a MPB singer.

History

Culture

Sao Luiz is known for its tiles which most buildings in the historical centre are covered in. It also has some cultural peculiarities namely:-

Tambor da Crioula: Afro-Brazilian dance in which gaily glad women court a bateria of tambors (a row of drums). Whirling and gyrating in time to the music they negotiate for prime position in the centre of the bateria.

Tambor de Minas: Not to be confused with the above, this is the local variant of the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomble.

Bumba Meu Boi: A popular farce which takes its form as a grand musical pantomime. Practice is a public affair and begins directly after Easter reaching its climax in June when literally hundreds of groups perform on a nightly basis for popular acclaim and pure enjoyment. Set personalities and characters play out a comedic tragedy with a metaphor for social harmony at its heart. Settlers, the infamous Coroneis, Indians, witch-doctors, African slaves and forest spirits are enacted though incredible costume, original choreography and music - all performed amongst the greatest all-night revelry. The crowd joins in with singing, dancing and dependant on the groups sotaque (or style) the playing of matracas (two wooden blocks, held in each hand and struck together repeatedly). Like the festival of Sao Joao and its requisite Forro dance in the North-Eastern states further south Bumba Meu Boi is a harvest festival but with the bull as its centre-piece. Food and drinks made from local produce not only accompany the event but are a pre-requisite due to the high calorific needs of the heavily costumed dancers.

Capoeira: The Sao Luiz form of capoeira is said to be akin to the kind of capoeira now recognized as ‘traditional bahian capoeira’ that predated the Bahian angola/regional polemic which split the capoeira world in the 1950s.

In 1997 the city's historical center was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Starting in 1989 there has been an extensive program to restore and renovate the colonial era buildings of the city's historical center.

World Heritage Sites in Brazil

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