# São Luís capital of Maranhão state - Brazil



## Zeca (Nov 23, 2006)

São Luís: This island take your breath away and the hospitality give it back.
São Luís is the capital of the Brazilian state of Maranhão. The city has a population of 957,515 people. This has led to some controversy as the city has over 1,000,000 habitants already. The metropolitan area totals 1,233,239 (ranked as the 16th largest in Brazil).(Alcântara, Paço do Lumiar, São José de Ribamar e Raposa)

São Luís is the only Brazilian state capital founded by France (see France Équinoxiale) and it is one of the three Brazilian state capitals located on islands (the others are Vitória and Florianópolis).

The city has sea ports; Ponta da Madeira, Porto do Itaqui; through which a substantial part of Brazil's iron ore, originating from the (pre)-Amazon region, is exported. The city's main industries are metallurgical with Alumar, and Vale do Rio Doce. 
São Luís was the home town of famous Brazilian Samba singer Alcione, brazilian writers Athur e Aluísio Azevedo, Ferreira Gullar and Josué Montello, Brazil's former President José Sarney, Belgian-naturalised soccer player Luís Oliveira, João do Vale, Catulo da Paixão Cearense and Zeca Baleiro, an MPB singer and composer.

Originally the town was a large village of the Tupinambá tribe. The first Europeans to see it were the French, in 1612, who intended to make it a French colony. They made a fort named São Luís ("Saint Louis"), after Saint Louis IX of France as a compliment to King Louis XIII. It was conquered for Portugal by Jerônimo de Albuquerque in 1615, leaving little time for the French to build a city. This has led to some controversy as to the actual date of the founding of the city by the French or the Portuguese. In 1641 the city was invaded by the Dutch. They stayed until 1645 and did not manage to influence the city's architecture or to leave any sign of their invasion, mainly because they did not build, but focused instead on violent domination. In 1677the city was made the seat of the Diocese of São Luís do Maranhão.

Only when those invasions ceased permanently, did the colonial government decide to create the state of Grão-Pará e Maranhão, independent from the rest of the country. By that time, the economy was based on agriculture, particularly the exportation of sugar cane, cacao and tobacco. Conflicts amongst the local elites would lead to the Beckman's Revolt.

Soon after the outbreak of the American Civil War, the region started to provide cotton to England. The wealth originated by this activity was used to modernize the city; instigate religious men to come and teach in their schools; and water supplement. The city came to be the third most populous city in the country, but by the end of the 19th century agriculture faced its decay and, from this time forth, the city has been searching for other ways of sustenance.

Nowadays, São Luís has the largest and best preserved heritages of colonial Portuguese architecture of all Latin America. The island is known as the "Island of Love" and "Brazilian Athens", due to its many poets and writers, such as Aluísio Azevedo, Graça Aranha, Gonçalves Dias (the most famous), Ferreira Gullar, among others.

São Luís in 1997 the city's historical center was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Starting in 1989 there has been an extensive program to restore and renovate the colonial era buildings of the city's historical center.
http://imirante.globo.com/plantaoi/plantaoi_video.asp?codigo1=175708









01- Flying over the historical center








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03- São Luís historical center has amazing roofs .








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16 - São Luís was elected as the capital of the culture 2009.








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19-Cuchá rice, stone-fish and guaraná Jesus is a kind of tipical food in the island. Enjoy it.









20 - The street carnival attracts lots of tourists 








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22 - Somewhere in time










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34 - The famous Ribeirão Fountain full of labyrinth and mystery








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36 - Largo dos Amores.








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38 - People of faith.








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46-My homeland has many palm-trees
and the thrush-song fills its air;
no bird here can sing as well
as the birds sing over there.









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48 - Sailing is needed.








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50 - Back to the future








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63 - Saturday night fever at Lagoa da Jansen








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68 - Industrial District and the sea ports








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73- Alumar - The second largest aluminium company in the world








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São Luís has the best and most modern sea port between United States and Europe and it is also close to the Panama Canal and the second deepest one in the world.

São Luís is waiting for you and invite you to continue in a virtual trip visting this thread as well http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=594736

http://imirante.globo.com/plantaoi/plantaoi_video.asp?codigo1=175708


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Nice place


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## Rekarte (Mar 28, 2008)

Tem algumas boas fts
mas eu nao gosto de centro hitorico brasileiro ou europeu
sao mto feio,so turista pra gostar,msm


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## hugoslz (Mar 1, 2008)

GOSH!
This city is amazing..
Great pictures!
Congratulations Zeca!


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## amazongate (Feb 24, 2008)

Nice pics!:yes:

São Luís is magic!:cheers2:

Congratulations Zeca!kay:


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## motense (Jul 26, 2006)

Muito bom trabalho zeca.
parabens


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## Geoce (Sep 11, 2007)

Amazing city whit a great future.


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## Zeca (Nov 23, 2006)

christos-greece said:


> Nice place


christos-greece Tks a lot. We wish to have you among us one day. 






Rekarte said:


> Tem algumas boas fts
> mas eu nao gosto de centro hitorico brasileiro ou europeu
> sao mto feio,so turista pra gostar,msm


:baeh3:






hugoslz said:


> GOSH!
> This city is amazing..
> Great pictures!
> Congratulations Zeca!


Huguinho Great guys like you usualy comes from this city as well, just like you.






amazongate said:


> Nice pics!:yes:
> 
> São Luís is magic!:cheers2:
> 
> Congratulations Zeca!kay:


Tks my favorite neighbor. I appreciate your help, your clues and also your comments. Have a hug, Amazongate






motense said:


> Muito bom trabalho zeca.
> parabens


Obrigado Motense estou ansioso esperando pelo seu thread de estréia da câmera nova.






Geoce said:


> Amazing city whit a great future.


Tks and please make yourself comfortable to be our guest.:cheers:


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## NorthWesternGuy (Aug 25, 2005)

Nice city, good skyline (being honestly, a lot of cities in Brazil have very good ones) and it seems to have many traditions. I like it.

Muito obrigado for the pictures Zeca.


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## Zeca (Nov 23, 2006)

*NorthWesternGuy*



NorthWesternGuy said:


> Nice city, good skyline (being honestly, a lot of cities in Brazil have very good ones) and it seems to have many traditions. I like it.
> 
> Muito obrigado for the pictures Zeca.



Althought São Luís is among the oldest cities in Brazil it's not too old. It's only 396 years old, just a young lady if you compare to the others.:lol:
In deed our skyline is growing up and showing a new and modern city.:cheers:


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## luclasaw (Oct 12, 2008)

Nunca falem mau dos lusitanos,porque a beleza de São Luis são herança de portugal!


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## JPBrazil (Mar 12, 2007)

I'd love to go there


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## megabran (Dec 27, 2007)

It's a wonderful place.


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

^^^^ Some day...


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## CARIOCAemSSA (Aug 11, 2006)

Ive never been there, however, after this thread Id like to.


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## noonghandi (Jul 2, 2008)

I love Brazil. beautiful pictures. thank you for sharing.


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## Jorge M (Jun 11, 2008)

The historical center is WONDERFUL!
Eu amo essa arquitetura portuguesa!


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## Zeca (Nov 23, 2006)

luclasaw said:


> Nunca falem mau dos lusitanos,porque a beleza de São Luis são herança de portugal!


Verdade os franceses ficaram apenas 3 anos depois de fundarem a cidade e não deu tempo de construir muita coisa mesmo. Existem poucos predios franceses mesmo. Os holandeses destruíram tudo o que tinham construído, só ficou um forte. Somos gratos aos portugueses por nos presentearem com essa maravilha arquitetônica.



JPBrazil said:


> I'd love to go there


Come and join us. What R U waiting for?



megabran said:


> It's a wonderful place.


What a wonderful world 



christos-greece said:


> ^^^^ Some day...


 Better late than never. Have a hug



CARIOCAemSSA said:


> Ive never been there, however, after this thread Id like to.





noonghandi said:


> I love Brazil. beautiful pictures. thank you for sharing.


You're welcome. have a greateful day.



Jorge M said:


> The historical center is WONDERFUL!
> Eu amo essa arquitetura portuguesa!


I agree with you and I love it so much.


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## Zeca (Nov 23, 2006)

Waiting for more visitors. Leave a message, please.


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## Galado (May 1, 2007)

Old town of São Luis is really nice!


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Especially those buildings in old town 

The white big building in 01 and 02 pics. What building is that?


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## Thina (Jan 4, 2005)

Excellent thread.


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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

*Thanks to all who have credited photos, and I urge everyone else to do the same, as I hate deleting pictures!*


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## muckie (Mar 14, 2006)

Rekarte said:


> Tem algumas boas fts
> mas eu nao gosto de centro hitorico brasileiro ou europeu
> sao mto feio,so turista pra gostar,msm


EU ein...


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## elbart089 (Nov 18, 2007)

>


Nice, what festival is that? it looks cool


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## speed_demon (Jun 2, 2007)

The French had founded São Luís in the 15th century, hadnt they? Every time you see a city called "São Luís" (Saint Louis), then the French have been walking around.


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## Zeca (Nov 23, 2006)

christos-greece said:


> Especially those buildings in old town
> 
> The white big building in 01 and 02 pics. What building is that?


Well, this is the government building and it was the first building that french people built to start the city. It was a fort before.



Thina said:


> Excellent thread.


 Tks Thina



elbart089 said:


> Nice, what festival is that? it looks cool


 It's called Tambor de Criola, something it is a kind of folklore introduced by the slaves, but nowadays it is part of our culture.



speed_demon said:


> The French had founded São Luís in the 15th century, hadnt they? Every time you see a city called "São Luís" (Saint Louis), then the French have been walking around.


 That's true.


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## Zeca (Nov 23, 2006)

tks for everybody!


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## Brazil_Gold Coast (Oct 23, 2007)

Sao Luis looks AMAZING! I so have to go there on my next Brazil trip....


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## gabdem (Aug 17, 2008)

Brazil_Gold Coast said:


> Sao Luis looks AMAZING! I so have to go there on my next Brazil trip....



wow! Amazing! 

And OMG! It's shocking how different Southern Brazil and Northern Brazil are :eek2:


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## Zeca (Nov 23, 2006)

Brazil_Gold Coast said:


> Sao Luis looks AMAZING! I so have to go there on my next Brazil trip....


Make yourself comfortable.



gabdem said:


> wow! Amazing!
> 
> And OMG! It's shocking how different Southern Brazil and Northern Brazil are :eek2:


It could not be similar, but great as well.:lol:


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## atmBrasil (Oct 18, 2008)

Wow, I wanna go there so bad!!!
Thanks for sharing Sao Luis with us.


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## Parisian Girl (Nov 6, 2007)

U can never fully appreciate from photos just how beautiful and truly amazing Brazilian cities like Sao Luis really are, until u actually go there.


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## Zeca (Nov 23, 2006)

Parisian Girl said:


> U can never fully appreciate from photos just how beautiful and truly amazing Brazilian cities like Sao Luis really are, until u actually go there.


It's absolutely true. I appreciate your coment. Tks


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## Parisian Girl (Nov 6, 2007)

Zeca said:


> It's absolutely true. I appreciate your coment. Tks


U welcome!


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## victor SLZ (Feb 4, 2009)

Ok Zeca!
I see all the photos. Thats great.
Thank you.


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## juancito (Mar 1, 2006)

very nice, i've always love brazil


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## samba_man (Dec 26, 2004)

I luv the historical buildings!


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## Zeca (Nov 23, 2006)

victor SLZ said:


> Ok Zeca!
> I see all the photos. Thats great.
> Thank you.





juancito said:


> very nice, i've always love brazil





samba_man said:


> I luv the historical buildings!




Tks guys


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## Zeca (Nov 23, 2006)

Up


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