In 1889 Juazeiro was no more than a tiny hamlet. There was nothing unusual about its young priest, Padre Cícero Romão Batista, until a woman in Juazeiro claimed the wine he gave them at Communion had turned to blood in their mouths. At first it was only people from Crato who came, and they […]

The main centre of the deep sertão is 500km west of Campina Grande – actually in the south of Ceará state – where a series of hill ranges, higher ground blessed with regular rainfall, provides a welcome respite. Food crops can be grown here, and every available inch of land is used to grow […]

The rodoviária (T83/3337-3001) is on the outskirts of town at Avenida Sen. Argemiro de Figueiredo in Catolé; local buses marked “Centro” take you downtown. The tourist office is situated at Praça Clementino Procópio (Mon–Fri 8am–5pm; T83/3251-7717) and you can get a useful city map here.
There’s a good choice of accommodation in Campina Grande. The […]

Although the city sprawls out into anonymous industrial suburbs, the central layout is compact and easy to get the hang of. The city’s heart, and most useful landmark, is the obelisk in the Parque do Açude Novo. The park itself straddles the Avenida Floriano Peixoto, which bisects Campina Grande from west to east, and […]

In June Campina Grande hosts a month-long festival that uses the São João holiday – the festas juninas – as an excuse for a general knees-up. Streets are filled with stalls selling food and drinks and various events are scheduled. This imakes June one of the best times to visit, and the wonderfully named […]

Penha apart, most of the readily accessible beaches are to the north, off the road that leads to Cabedelo, 18km or 45 minutes by frequent local buses from the Anel Viário in João Pessoa – they get very crowded at weekends. The road runs a little inland and there are turn-offs leading to the […]

Just to the south of João Pessoa is the fishing village of PENHA, served by local buses from outside the rodoviária. Strung out along a fine beach set in the midst of dense palm forest, Penha is distinguished from other fishing villages round about by a nineteenth-century church, the Igreja de Nossa Senhora da […]