Belém, May 2024
This is the second part of the previous post showing this layover in Belém. When visiting Belém, Theatro da Paz is something you really can't miss. I dare to say it's the most beautiful I ever saw in Brazil!
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Theatro da Paz
There are guided tours for which you pay a fairly cheap ticket. This theatre was founded in 1878, in the golden age of rubber in Amazon Basin. Built in neoclassical style the theatre has a current capacity for 900 people, originally 1100! It is located in Praça da República.
During our tour, the guide asked us if the pattern on the floor - pictured below on the right - didn't remind us of anything. I answered what was obvious. Right away he asked me if I knew what was the difference to that other symbol.
- The direction of rotation, I said.
- And do you know its meaning?
- Peace.
When climbing the first flight of stairs, after being in the entrance hall, a big mirror can be seen. It is placed where it used to be the frontal entrance to the auditorium but since it interfered with the acoustics, engineers decided to close it. Beneath the stage of the auditorium there is a huge pool of water with a total capacity of around 40.000 liters with the purpose of improving the acoustics. We were lucky enough that during our visit a rehearsal was taking place on the stage so we could experience the great acoustics of the gallery:
The auditorium is absolutely stunning and it also reflects a strict class division when it was envisioned.
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| Details on a flight of stairs |
You also get to see the Foyer and the balcony.
Last pictures: the monogram of the theatre on the pavement in front of it and its facade.
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Estação das Docas
Estação das Docas is a tourist-cultural complex space created in 2000, a requalification of the city's port area. You can the the old cranes and the steam locomotive used to pull them while enjoying your beer or your açaí smoothie.
As you can see by the dark clouds, a heavy storm was approaching quickly and we were lucky enough to get inside an Uber to go to the hotel right when it started pouring down.
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Ilha do Combu
Looking for a place to have lunch on our last day in Belém, we decided to catch a small boat to cross the river Guamá and go to the Combu island. The food was nice as well as the view to the city:
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Return Flight
And then, as always, it was time to fly back to Portugal. Airbus A321LR, tail number CS-TXI, named "Zeca Afonso" was the aircraft rostered for this crossing of the Atlantic Ocean:
