Maceió

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Maceió (Mah-say-oh) is the capital and the largest city of the coastal state Alagoas in Brazil. It stands out as an attractive Brazilian tourist destination visited by many Brazilian and foreign tourists.

The capital of Alagoas enjoys a privileged location between Mundaú Lake and the Atlantic Ocean. The city proper has a total population of 884,320 inhabitants (year 2000) living under a tropical climate with average temperature of 25°C. IBGE estimates 922,458 people for 2006. Around 1,180,000 people live in its metropolitan area (year 2005).

Its sunny weather, calm and blue sea, palm trees around the beaches, beautiful lagoons and natural swimming pools in the Atlantic Ocean sand banks have made the city to become an important tourist destination in the last decades. The new Zumbi dos Palmares International Airport connects Maceió with many Brazilian cities and also operates some international flights.

Maceió is also a port city and due to its port development about 200 years ago it changed from a village into a city which would become the capital of Alagoas state in 1839.

The city is home to the Federal University of Alagoas.

Contents 1 Main neighborhoods 1.1 Pajuçara (or Pajussara) 1.2 Ponta Verde 1.3 Farol 1.4 Jatiúca 1.5 Jaraguá 1.6 Pontal da Barra 2 Demographics 3 Economy 4 Education 4.1 Colleges and universities 4.2 Primary and secondary schools 5 Culture 5.1 Cinema 5.2 Theatre 5.3 Museum 6 Infrastructure 6.1 International airport 6.2 Port 7 Districts 8 Surrounding highlights 9 Notable people 10 External links

[edit] Main neighborhoods

[edit] Pajuçara (or Pajussara)

Located on the city coast, its beach is one of the most frequented in Maceió. Pajussara has modern streets and avenues, diverse shops, clubs and hotels, hostels and lodgings occupied by tourists all the year round. The place has inspired many Brazilian composers and singers, one such is Djavan (a famous Brazilian singer born in the city), who composed several songs inspired by the moments in which he walked along its beach. One of the best attractions in Pajussara beach is its natural swimming pool, located on an ocean sandbank just about 1.500 meters of the coast and that is available when tide is low. The only way to get there is by jangada, a typical boat of Brazilian northeast region. Unfortunately, nowadays, the beach has been spoiled by pollution and an unsightly gas-duct that has impacted on the area. One of the best soccer teams of the city is located there, the team is the CRB (Clube de Regatas Brasil), with its stadium (Estádio Severiano Gomes Filho).

[edit] Ponta Verde

Considered by many natives and tourists as the most beautiful urban beach of Maceió, Ponta Verde (Green Point) is a neighborhood with intense traffic and movement of people. In earlier days the place was just a beach surrounded by very greenish coconut trees. Its name comes from an old plantation named Ponta Verde whose area was as wide as the beach was long, indeed a wilderness! Nowadays, it is impossible to feel isolated in Ponta Verde as most famous city events and shows take place there. The neighbourhood serves as base for good hotels and restaurants and its seacoast has plenty of “barracas”, typical beach bars found on all Maceió's urban beaches.

[edit] Farol

Farol means lighthouse in Portuguese. Farol is an urban highland just a short distance away from the sea in which the former lighthouse aided navigation along the coast and guided ships coming up to the port of Jaraguá, as the port of Maceió is known. Its privileged altitude allows one to see all along the sea and Mundaú Lake. The place was of great military importance during the Colonial period.

[edit] Jatiúca

Like Ponta Verde, the settlement in Jatiúca started from an old coconut plantation whose space is still preserved by its owners. Today it has some of the most valuable real estate in the city. It is home to excellent hotels, resorts and restaurants that have become more attractive due to their location in front of the sea or nearby that region. Its coastline is served by a lot of ”barracas” such as those in Ponta Verde.

[edit] Jaraguá

Jaraguá is the historic centre of the city and it could be appropriately named The Old Town. Once it was the central metting and commercial point where in the 19th century the village of Maceió transformed into a city which grew up around the port that takes pride of place, the port of Jaraguá. Old port warehouses have now been converted into bars, night clubs and restaurants which makes for a lively and colourful leisure spot at the weekends. The history of Maceió has been preserved to some extent in the classical colonial buildings, churches, warehouses and houses of Jaraguá.

[edit] Pontal da Barra

In earlier days this district was known as a place of dunes, high sand mountains between the Atlantic Ocean and Mundaú Lake that urbanization eroded away. Nowadays, Pontal da Barra (or simply Pontal) is a village inhabited by fishermen and artisans. It has lost its dunes but still preserves the friendliness of the people and the marvelous handcrafts made by the artisans. Pontal welcomes lot of tourists delighted with the artisans’ works and incredible taste of its typical seafood dishes, made with fish, crabs and shrimps abundantly present in the lake portion and sea.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census of 2006, the population was 922,458. The population density was 1,533.32 habitants/km². Maceió has the 4th highest demographic density of Brazil only after of Federal District, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro. According to the 2006 census, the racial makeup of the city was majority White and Mixed; minority Black or Afro-Brazilian. People of Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, French, American and English descent form the largest ethnic groups in the city.

[edit] Economy

One substantial local industry is based on chemical products from brine pumped from deep wells on the outskirts of Maceió. Another substantial industry is the fabrication of alcohol and sugar from sugarcane grown in the region. In the last twenty years the tourist industry has found the beaches and Maceió itself has changed from a rather sleepy little port with coconut palm plantations along its beaches to high rise hotels.

[edit] Education

[edit] Colleges and universities

Alagoas has a Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Universidade Estadual de Alagoas, ECMAL, CESMAC, FAL, ESAMC, FITs, FAMA, FAA etc.

[edit] Primary and secondary schools

The best schools of city are Colégio Santíssimo Sacramento, Colégio Contato, Inei, Colégio Santa Úrsula, Colégio Anchieta, Colégio Marista Maceió, Colégio Santa Madalena Sofia, Colégio Santa Rosa, Colégio Monteiro Lobato, etc.

[edit] Culture

[edit] Cinema

Shopping Iguatemi and Farol, in Maceió city.

[edit] Theatre

Theatre Deodoro and Theatre Gustavo Leite,in Maceió city.

[edit] Museum

Museum Théo Brandão, Museum of Instituto Historic e Geografic of Alagoas, Museum Pierre Chalita, Museum of sport , Museum da Image and of Music.

[edit] Infrastructure

[edit] International airport

Zumbi dos Palmares International Airport . The “Terra dos Marechais” (as the state is nicknamed) will gain a stunning new airport complex, designed by homegrown architect Mário Aloísio, which combines glass, metal and granite in a design that is as functional as it is beautiful. There will be space for art exhibitions, a panoramic deck, chapel, seven escalators, nine elevators and four boarding bridges to protect passengers from the elements. And the whole terminal was designed to permit access by the physically disabled, with ramps and special bathroom fixtures. In the new terminal Infraero will also bring to Maceió “Aeroshopping” – a concept that is transforming the country’s airports into centers for leisure and high-quality products and services. The entire building will be air conditioned, with 63 commercial spaces that will be occupied gradually by public tender. The parking area will be expanded from the current 143 spaces to 600. Demand will be able to grow to 1.2 million passengers a year, since the new passenger terminal will have 24,000 square meters, triple its current size. The present 12 check-in counters will be doubled to 24 and can reach 48 without any structural remodeling. The building will be “intelligent”, meaning controlled by a computerized system that regulates factors ranging from the lighting level to air temperature and even the speed of the escalators. This system will also control access to restricted areas and the fire protection system, among others.

[edit] Port

Port of Jaraguá.

[edit] Districts

There are today about 53 neighborhoods in Maceió, the following is the list:

Antares;Barro Duro;Bebedouro;Benedito Bentes;Bom Parto;Cambona;Canaã;Centro;Chã de Bebedouro;Chã da Jaqueira;Cidade Universitária;Clima Bom;Cruz das Almas;Farol; Feitosa;Fernão Velho;Garça Torta;Gruta de Lourdes;Guaxuma;Ipioca;Jacarecica; Jacintinho;Jaraguá;Jardim Petrópolis;Jatiúca;Levada;Mangabeiras;Mutange;Novo Mundo; Ouro Preto;Pajuçara;Pescaria;Pinheiro;Pitanguinha;Poço;Ponta da Terra;Ponta Grossa; Ponta Verde;Pontal da Barra;Prado;Riacho Doce;Rio Novo;Santa Amélia;Santa Lúcia; Santo Amaro;Santos Dumont;São Jorge;Serraria;Tabuleiro do Martins;Tabuleiro do Pinto; Tabuleiro Novo;Trapiche da Barra;Vergel do Lago.

[edit] Surrounding highlights

• Praia do Francês (French's Beach)
• Barra Nova (New Waterway)
• Dunas de Marapé (Dunes of Marapé)
• Nove Ilhas (Nine Islands)
• Massagüera (or Massagueira)
• Barra de São Miguel (San Miguel Waterway)
• Praia do Gunga (Gunga's Beach)
• Sonho Verde (Green Dream)
• Barra de Santo Antônio (Santo Antonio Waterway)
• Maragogi
• Murici
• Japaratinga
• Pontal do Coruripe

[edit] Notable people

• Aurélio Buarque de Holanda Ferreira, author of a famous Portuguese language dictionary, Dicionário Aurélio
• Cacá Diegues, film director
• Djavan, singer and musician
• Deodoro da Fonseca, 1st president in Brazilian republic
• Floriano Peixoto, 2nd president in Brazilian republic
• Guimarães Passos, writer,
• Hermeto Pascoal, musician
• Ledo Ivo, poet and writer
• Nise da Silveira, psychiatrist
• Pontes de Miranda, jurist
• Vera Arruda, fashion designer
• Zagallo (Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo), football (soccer) coach
• Zumbi dos Palmares, a revolutionary.

[edit] External links

• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: -9.6637° -35.7375°
  • Mapping from Multimap or GlobalGuide or Google Maps
  • Aerial image from TerraServer
  • Satellite image from WikiMapia