The carnival hill above Recife — frevo brass bands, giant mamulengo puppets, and a UNESCO colonial townscape that is still a living Pernambuco neighbourhood
Olinda is a colonial hill town on the Atlantic coast of Pernambuco, immediately north of Recife — a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1982) of colonial Portuguese architecture, but one that is still a functioning neighbourhood rather than a museum piece: the ateliers of the Pernambuco artisan tradition (cordel woodblock print makers, mamulengo puppet carvers, frevo costume makers) operate from the same colonial houses that tourists come to photograph. The Olinda Carnival (the second most famous in Brazil after Rio, and by many accounts the most musically authentic) is a 6-day street festival with 1…
Olinda was the first capital of Pernambuco (founded 1535 by Portuguese colonist Duarte Coelho) and the richest city in Brazil during the 16th century sugar economy — the wealth generated by the Pernambuco engenhos (sugar plantations and mills) built the baroque churches, the monastic foundations, and the colonial palaces that give Olinda its UNESCO status. The Dutch West India Company captured Olinda in 1630 (part of the broader Dutch occupation of northeast Brazil, 1630-1654); the Portuguese colonists burned the city on their retreat, and the Dutch built their capital at Recife rather than r…