Sertão of Pernambuco has many tourist and cultural attractions

The Sertão occupies most of Pernambuco’s territory, 70 per cent of the state.

Division of the Sertão

The Sertão is divided into six micro-regions: Araripina, Salgueiro, Pajeú, Moxotó, Petrolina and Itaparica (see below). In general, its economy is based on animal husbandry and the cultivation of subsistence crops.

Climate challenges

The Sertão is the region most affected by the droughts that affect the northeastern semi-arid region, with average annual rainfall of between 500 and 700 millimetres.

This reality of climatic challenges has shaped the life and culture of the local communities, which have developed a rich cultural diversity, including musical, folkloric and literary traditions.

Infrastructure and economy

Itaparica has a hydroelectric plant owned by the São Francisco Hydroelectric Company (Chesf) and Petrolina has the state’s largest fruit production centre, grown with irrigation water from the São Francisco River and destined for export.

Settlement of the Sertão

Pernambuco’s Sertão was settled inland by farmers from Bahia and Pernambuco, due to the need to raise cattle, which competed with the sugar cane grown on the coast.

The climatic conditions did not allow the expansion of sugar cane inland, leading to a migration to the Sertão.

Cultural influence

Northeastern culture is deeply influenced by the Sertão, reflected in artistic manifestations such as music (forró, xote), dances, popular festivals and cuisine, which uses local ingredients.

The figure of the cowboy, who symbolises the man of the Sertão, is an icon of northeastern culture, representing bravery and adaptation to adversity.

The region’s potential

The Sertão region of Pernambuco has great historical, cultural and natural potential.

Videos about the Sertão of Pernambuco

Tourist attractions of the Pernambuco interior

1. Serra Talhada
2. Triunfo
3. Petrolina

1. Serra Talhada

The town takes its name from the large mountain range that rises to the north and ends abruptly in a dry cut – a butcher’s block.

The municipality of Serra Talhada, 430 kilometres from Recife on the BR-232, proudly cultivates references to Virgulino Ferreira da Silva, the mythical lampião who was born there in 1898.

It is no coincidence that its main attraction is the place where the cangaceiro was born. Serra Talhada is also known as the capital of the xaxado, a dance that Virgulino helped to spread (although he didn’t invent it).

At weekends, you can watch the rehearsals of the different groups that play and dance this rhythm in the city.

1.1 Passagem das Pedras site (Lampião’s house)

The Passagem das Pedras site, where Lampião was born, 45 kilometres from the city, was turned into a museum in 2001 and contains photographs, weapons and objects that belonged to the “King of Cangaço”.

Getting to Passagem das Pedras, where Lampião was born, is an adventurous journey along a poorly signposted road, full of hills and rocks, with the presence of goats, cows and hawks. To make sure the trip isn’t in vain, it’s a good idea to call ahead to make sure the place is open.

Better still, ask a member of the association that runs the museum – an informal organisation founded by Anildomá Willians de Souza, a scholar of Virgulino’s life.

In February 2007, a branch of the Cangaço Museum was opened in the city centre (Rua Cel. Cornélio Soares, 254).

Access via the São Miguel farm, Virgulino Ferreira da Silva road, 45 km from the centre (6 km on a dirt road).

Xaxado

To the sound of the triangle, the zabumba, the accordion and the tambourine, Virgulino Ferreira da Silva’s favourite dance, the cangaceiro lampião, can be enjoyed in Serra Talhada at performances during the June festivals, religious festivals or at the rehearsals of xaxado groups on Saturday afternoons, which last about an hour.

The groups Cabras de Lampião and Maria Bonita rehearse at the state school Methódio de Godoy Lima (Rua Manuel Antonio de Souza, 735, São Cristovão).

The city’s oldest, Manuel Martins, can be seen at the Serra Talhada Teacher Training College (Av. Afonso Magalhães, 380, Centro) and Cangaceiros de Vila Bela, at the Antônio Timóteo College (Rua Antônio Timóteo, s/n, Bom Jesus).

Information about groups and rehearsals can be obtained from the Serra Talhada Cultural Foundation (Praça Sérgio Magalhães, 868, Centro).

1.2 Cangaço Museum

The history of the Cangaço is told in the Cangaço Museum in Serra Talhada.

The museum has over a hundred photographs, objects and documents relating to the guerrillas of the Sertão. The museum is run by the Cabras de Lampião Cultural Foundation and is located in the Estação do Forró.

Inaugurated in 1957, the old station shed in Serra Talhada, Pernambuco, has been restored and transformed into the Cangaço Museum. The space houses a collection of photographs and some objects from the time of the cangaço, including a trunk that belonged to Lampião, the most famous cangaçeiro.

Origin of the term “cangaço

The origin of the term “cangaço” is generally linked to the term “canga”, which refers to a piece of wood or metal used to attach two animals, such as oxen, to a cart or plough. This canga symbolises strength and resistance, characteristics that relate to the life of the cangaceiros, who are known for their bravery and struggle in adverse conditions.

The cangaço developed in the northeastern interior of Brazil, mainly between the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. It was a social and cultural phenomenon involving armed groups organised to resist the oppression of powerful people, such as peasants and local authorities, and to fight poverty and social exclusion.

The cangaceiros, often led by iconic figures such as Lampião, became symbols of resistance and contestation against the social injustices of the time.

The term “cangaço” came to refer both to the bandit groups that operated in the arid regions of the Northeast, and to the lifestyle and culture that grew out of this movement. Thus, the cangaço is not only an aspect of Brazilian history, but also a cultural element involving music, dance, dress and popular traditions that are still celebrated and remembered in the region.

2. Triunfo

Triunfo, in Pernambuco, had some years of economic exuberance – mainly in the 1920s – but they were enough to earn it the title of “Princess of the Sertão”.

The elite of Triunfo, 450 kilometres from Recife, declined with the sugar cane and coffee plantations, but left its mark: Near the Nossa Senhora das Dores Parish Church, with its neo-Gothic lines, and around the beautiful Borborema Reservoir in the centre, the houses with old, well-kept facades are an attraction; the Guarany Theatre sums up the glory days; the Cangaço Museum brings together a significant collection from the time when the northeast was ruled by bandits.

Triunfo is home to the highest point in Pernambuco – Papagaio Peak – and, in a small corner that leads to the Pinga Waterfall, mills such as São Pedro, which produces rapadura all year round.

Another typical delicacy of the town is the São Nicolau pastry, made with honey, cinnamon and cloves. The recipe was brought by German nuns in 1939.

Sister Isabel’s is sold on request at the Stella Maris Community (sítio Horta, 5, Centro).

To get to Triunfo from Recife, take the BR-232 to Serra Talhada and then the PE-365 for 31 kilometres.

2.1 Rapadura mills

The rapadura capital of the Pernambuco interior, Triunfo, has more than sixty rustic and centuries-old sugar mills that, between the months of July and December, produce the hollowest sugar cake that is not missing from the Northeastern table.

The São Pedro mill, the most organised, produces organic cachaça and liqueurs all year round (Sítio Bela Vista, rural area, 500 m from the centre).

On the way to the mills is the Pinga waterfall. To visit it, you need to hire a local guide, as access is not signposted. The waterfall is made up of three cascades – a wide one with a bathing pool, and another taller one, about 50 metres high.

The third, in the dry season, only drips – hence the name of the place, used by the locals for abseiling.

2.2 Cangaço Museum

Founded in 1971, the Cangaço Museum in Triunfo houses a collection of weapons, clothes, photographs and objects belonging to the cangaceiros – from Corisco’s dagger to a tray that belonged to Lampião in 1916 and an old accordion.

In the same building you will also find the Municipal Museum, with utensils collected from Triunfo homes, and the Sacred Art Museum, with the Wheel of the Rejected, where unwanted babies were deposited by their mothers to be raised in convents or monasteries. Monsenhor Eliseu Square, s/n.

2.3 Guarany Theatre

The idea of building a large theatre in Triunfo came from the merchant brothers Manuel and Carolino Siqueira Campos.

Inaugurated in 1922, the Guarany enjoyed a brief period of glory. In the 1920s it fell into disrepair as a result of the political and economic decline of Triunfo.

It was used as a bar and its interior has undergone many changes. Today, it has returned to its original function and opens for performances on special dates, when it can accommodate up to 180 people, although it is open to the public all year round. Piazza Carolino Campos, s/n, Centre.

2.4 Papagaio Peak

Papagaio Peak is the highest point in Pernambuco, with an altitude of 1,260 metres. To get to the top, you have to drive for about an hour and 9 kilometres on a very bumpy and rocky road, but at the end you will be rewarded with a beautiful view of the region.

2.5 Chico Santeiro

Francisco Pinheiro, known as Chico Santeiro, travelled extensively in the Sertão before settling in Triunfo.

Today he is considered the city’s greatest artist – a reputation that is well deserved, as his wooden saints are truly remarkable: expressive features, luxurious clothing, curved postures, a striking style and exquisite workmanship. Av. Getúlio Vargas, 206, Centre.

3. Petrolina

A bridge connects the Pernambuco town of Petrolina, on the right bank of the São Francisco River, with Juazeiro, in Bahia; ferries cross the river between the two.

Despite this proximity, Petrolina has its own identity, based on the idea of meeting and mixing, an image that seems to be inscribed in the municipality’s name, the sum of Pedro (Dom Pedro I) and Leopoldina (Maria Leopoldina of Habsburg, Empress of Brazil).

Despite the drought, the town, located in the middle of the Sertão, 767 kilometres from Recife, has become the country’s largest fruit exporter and has improved its wine production, including Port. Attractions include the Ana das Carrancas Cultural Centre, with its expressive figures, and the Sertão Museum.

Petrolina can be reached from Recife via the BR-232 motorway, but the route is not safe – the road passes through an area known for frequent robberies, especially near the town of Salgueiro. Access via Juazeiro is recommended.

The Petrolina airport receives regular flights from the capital of Pernambuco and São Paulo.

3.1 Ana das Carrancas Cultural Centre

Over eighty years old, Ana das Carrancas has been honoured by rock bands (os Carrancudos) and maracatu groups (Matingueiros), has been the subject of a biography (Ana das Carrancas, a dama do clay, written by Pernambuco journalist Emanuel de Andrade) and is often exported to Europe.

Ana Leopoldina dos Santos, known as Ana das Carrancas, is one of the few women dedicated to making frowns. Her work is original not only because of the material she uses – clay instead of wood – but also because of a detail: all her figures have hollowed-out eyes.

The inspiration came from a promise: if the eyebrows would help her save her husband, who was blind and begging in the streets, she would make all her pieces in this way. As well as selling Ana’s work, the space organises workshops and courses for the community. BR-407, 500, Cohab Massangano.

3.2 Petrolina Cathedral

The Cathedral of Petrolina was built by the first bishop of the diocese, Dom Antonio Malan. The foundation stone was blessed and laid on the site of the old parish cemetery in February 1925, and the consecration took place in August 1929.

This is an imposing and majestic temple in the Gothic style that characterises and gives prominence to the city and region of Petrolina.

It was built with stones from the banks of the São Francisco River and stained glass from the French region of Grenoble. The clockwork was donated by Father Cícero. Praça D. Malan, s/n, Centre.

3.3 Museum of the Outback

The diversity of the collection is the hallmark of this museum, which seeks to synthesise the rich culture and history of the Sertão.

The Sertão Museum in Petrolina displays everything from photographs and objects that belonged to the lampião to prehistoric fish fossils (proof that the region was once marine), medicinal plants and a replica of a typical 18th-century sertanejo house.

Opened in 1973, the museum was renovated and reopened in 1996. Rua Esmelinda Brandão, s/n, Centre.

3.4 Bodódromo

Despite the name, none of the eight bodódromos serve goat, but lamb.

There are two reasons for this: the ram reproduces twice a year and has up to four offspring – the goat only has one in the same period – and its meat is softer and has a milder smell than that of the animal that inspired the name of the place. Av. São Francisco, s/n, Areia Branca.

3.5 Wines from Petrolina and the region

The combination of strong sunshine, soil type and river water allows the São Francisco Valley to produce two harvests a year, a rarity in the world.

This region, located on the 8th parallel, includes Petrolina and Juazeiro, in Bahia, and has become an important producer of wines, some of which are among the best in the country.

Unlike wines from the south, which are generally aged in oak barrels, those from the northeast are young, packed in aluminium barrels during the production process.

Tourist guide to the Sertão of Pernambuco and the Northeast

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