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Pernambuco’s Sertão and São Francisco are the largest regions of Pernambuco, occupying 70% of Pernambuco’s territory.

The Sertão is divided into six micro-regions: Araripina, Salgueiro, Pajeú, Moxotó, Petrolina and Itaparica (we will see below). In general, its economy is based on livestock and subsistence crops.

The Sertão is the region most punished by the droughts that hit the semi-arid Northeast, with average annual rainfall between 500 and 700 millimetres.

In Itaparica is located a hydroelectric plant of the Chesf system and in Petrolina is the largest fruit production centre in the state, grown with irrigated water from the São Francisco River and destined for export.

The settlement of Sertão Pernambucano took place inland, through farmers from Bahia and Pernambuco due to the needs of cattle breeding that competed with the sugar cane on the coast, as climatic conditions did not allow the expansion of sugar cane cultivation inland.

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

Videos about the Sertão de Pernambuco

Tourist Spots of the Pernambuco Hinterland

1. SERRA TALHADA

The name of the city comes from the large mountain range that rises to the north and ends abruptly, in a dry cut – a butcher’s shop.

The municipality, located 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.

Not by chance, its main attraction is the place where the cangaceiro came into the world. Serra Talhada is also known as the capital of xaxado, a dance that Virgulino helped to spread (although he did not invent it).

On weekends you can attend rehearsals of the various groups that play and dance the rhythm in the city.

1.1. SÍTIO PASSAGEM DAS PEDRAS (CASA DE LAMPIÃO)

The Pasagem das Pedras site is the birthplace of Lampião, 45 kilometres from the city, was transformed into a museum in 2001 and brings together photos, weapons and objects that belonged to the “King of Cangaço”.

Visit the house where Lampião, the king of the cangaço, was raised:

The arrival at Pasagem das Pedras, the place where Lampião was born, is adventurous, along a poorly signposted road, full of hills and rocks, crossed by goats, cows and hawks. To ensure that the journey is not in vain, it is advisable to confirm by telephone whether the place will be open.

Even better is to ask a member of the association that maintains the museum – an informal organisation set up by Anildomá Willians de Souza, a scholar of Virgulino’s life.

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

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

XAXADO

To the sound of the triangle, the zabumba, the accordion and the pandeiro, the favourite dance of Virgulino Ferreira da Silva, the cangaceiro Lampião, can be appreciated in Serra Talhada in presentations during June festivals, religious or in the rehearsals of xaxado groups, on Saturday afternoons, lasting about an hour.

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

The oldest in town, 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 is available at the Serra Talhada House of Culture Foundation (Praҫa Sérgio Magalhães, 868, Centre).

1.2. MUNICIPAL MARKET OF SERRA TALHADA

From 6am until 10am, the town’s market serves breakfast at collective counters, spread across several kiosks (choose the ones where you see the most customers).

A good option is the bolinho de caco, a kind of sweet and doughy mini-pancake made from corn. After 10am, it’s time for lunch: galinha capoeira (the free-range chicken of the sertão), baião de bode, red rice and carne-seca with macaxeira.

At kiosk 26, you’ll find recipes that are a departure from the local cuisine, such as roast beef, lasagne and grilled chicken. At all the stands, help yourself to chilli, flour, water and coffee. Rua Dep. Afranio Godoy, s/n.

1.3. MUSEUM OF CANGAÇO

History of the cangaço is told in  Museu do Cangaço in Serra Talhada.

It has more than a hundred photographs, objects and documents that have reference to the guerrillas of the sertão.
Maintained by the Cabras de Lampião Cultural Foundation, the Museum is located at the Estação do Forró.

Inaugurated in 1957, the old shed of the railway station of Serra Talhada, in Pernambuco, was restored and transformed into the Cangaço Museum. The space houses a collection with several photographs and a series of objects that refer to the time of the cangaço, including a trunk that belonged to Lampião, the cangaceiro who became best known.

2. TRIUNFO

Triunfo in Pernambuco had a few years of economic exuberance – lived mainly during the 1920s – were enough for the city to earn the title of “Princess of the Sertão”.

The elite of Triunfo, 450 kilometres from Recife, declined along with the sugar cane and coffee plantations, but left their mark: near the neo-Gothic Nossa Senhora das Dores church 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 dominated by bandits.

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

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

Sister Isabel’s biscuits are sold at the Stella Maris community on request (sítio Horta, 5, Centre).

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

2.1. TURISM IN TRIUNFO

Few municipalities have the privilege of gathering as many attractions as Triunfo in Pernambuco, starting with the climate, which contradicts the aridity of the northeastern hinterland, with temperatures oscillating between 8ºC in winter and 28ºC in summer.

The Pernambuco municipality of Triunfo, 399 km from Recife and at an altitude of 1,004m, has different vegetation from that which predominates in the region and a variety of places to visit without similar in the entire Northeastern Sertão. With all this Triunfo has come to be known as “The Oasis in the Sertão”.

Everything in Triunfo seems to be exquisitely carved: the streets full of slopes and cobbled pavements, the simple houses, the old buildings dating back to the 19th century, the secular and traditional convents and churches, the rough stone buildings, the history of the cangaço that take us back in time, the viewpoints, waterfalls, caves, the beautiful view that the Pico do Papagaio one of the highest point of Pernambuco with 1260 m provides, from where the view six cities of the Pajeú valley, the caretas with their costumes that leave visitors curious and dazzled by such beauty with more than a century of existence.

The famous João Barbosa Sitônio dam located in the city centre, adorned by the presence of the Cine Teatro Guarany inaugurated in 1922 and built with rock and whale oil to give sustainability to the three floors of the building that is one of the 20 Wonders of Pernambuco according to a vote held by Fundarpe and without forgetting the cable car that has its seats moved over the mountains of Triunfo passing over the waters of the dam.

Everyone who visits Triunfo has a real lesson in architecture, history and culture. A city of hospitable people, surrounded by mountains and evergreen vegetation.

2.2. GENESTS OF RAPADURA

Capital of the rapadura of the Pernambuco hinterland, Triunfo maintains active more than sixty rustic and secular mills producing, between the months of July and December, the brick of sugar but cavo that is not lacking on the northeastern table.

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

On the way to the mills is also the Pinga waterfall. To visit it, it is necessary to hire a local guide, as access is not signposted. The waterfall consists of three falls – one wide, with a bathing pool, and another higher, about 50 metres high.

The third, in the dry season, just drips – hence the name of the place, used by the locals to practice rappelling.

2.3. MUSEUM OF CANGAÇO

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

The same building also houses the City Museum, with utilitarian items collected from Triunfo homes, and the Sacred Art Museum, which features the wheel of the rejected, where unwanted babies were deposited by their mothers to be raised in convents or monasteries. Praҫa Monsenhor Eliseu, s/n.

2.4. TEATRO GUARANY

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

Inaugurated in 1922, the Guarany had a short period of glory. Still in the 1920s, it fell into decay due to the political and economic decline of Triunfo.

It then functioned as a bar and underwent many modifications inside. Today, it has resumed its original function and opens for performances on special dates, when it can accommodate an audience of up to 180 people; however, visitors are allowed to visit the premises all year round. Praҫa Carolino Campos, s/n, Centre.

2.5. PICO DO PAPAGAIO

The peak is the highest point in Pernambuco, with an altitude of 1260 metres. To reach the top, it is necessary to drive for about an hour 9 kilometres on a very bumpy road full of boulders, but in the end the traveller is rewarded with a beautiful view of the region.

2.6. CHICO SANTEIRO

Francisco Pinheiro, or Chico Santeiro, travelled extensively in the sertão before settling in Triunfo.

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

3. PETROLINA

A bridge connects Petrolina, on the right bank of the São Francisco River, in Pernambuco, to ]uazeiro, which belongs to 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 very name of the municipality, the sum of Pedro (from Dom Pedro I) and Leopoldina (from Maria Leopoldina of Habsburg, empress of Brazil).

Defying the drought, the city, planted in the middle of the sertão, 767 kilometres from Recife, has become the largest exporter of fruit in the country and has been improving its wine production, including Port. Among the attractions, it is worth mentioning the Ana das Carrancas Cultural Space, with its expressive figures, and the Sertão Museum.

Petrolina can be reached from Recife via the BR-232 motorway; the route, however, is not safe – the road cuts through an area known for frequent robberies, especially in the stretch near the municipality of Salgueiro. Access via ]uazeiro is more recommendable.

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

3.1. ANA DAS CARRANCAS CULTURAL SPACE

Over eighty years old, she has already been honoured by rock bands (os Carrancudos) and maracatu groups (Matingueiros); she has won a biography (Ana das Carrallcas, a dama do clay, written by Pernambuco journalist Emanuel de Andrade) and often exports her pieces to Europe.

One of the few women dedicated to the construction of carrancas, Ana Leopoldina dos Santos, or Ana das Carrancas, produces works in which the originality derives not only from the use of the material – clay instead of wood – but also from a detail: all her figures have hollowed-out eyes.

The inspiration came from a promise: if the frowns helped her get her blind husband off the streets, where he begged, she would make all her pieces that way. In addition to selling Ana’s work, the space organises workshops and courses for the community. BR-407, 500, Cohab Massangano.

3.2. CATEDRAL DE PETROLINA

The Cathedral of Petrolina was built by the first Bishop of the Diocese, Dom Antonio Malan. The foundation stone was blessed and placed on the site of the old parish cemetery in February 1925 and the inauguration took place in August 1929.

It is an imposing and majestic temple, in Gothic style, which characterises and gives prominence to the city and region of Petrolina.

Its construction used stones taken from the banks of the São Francisco and stained glass windows from the French region of Grenoble. The clock mechanism was donated by Father Cícero. Praҫa D. Malan, s/n, Centre.

3.3. MUSEUM OF THE SERTÃO

The diversity of the collection is the hallmark of this museum, which aims to synthesise the world of the sertão.

There are everything from photos and objects that belonged to 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 underwent renovations and was reopened in 1996. Rua Esmelinda Brandão, s/n, Centre.

3.4. BODÓDROMO

Despite the name, none of the eight establishments in Bodódromo serve goat meat, but mutton. This is due to two reasons: the ram reproduces twice a year and has up to four young – the goat, only one in the same period -, and its meat is softer and has a milder odour than that of the animal that inspired the place. Av. São Francisco, s/n, Areia Branca.

3.5. WINES OF PETROLINA AND REGION

The combination of strong sun, soil type and river water provides two annual grape harvests in the São Francisco valley, a rare feat in the world.

This region, located on the 8th parallel, encompasses Petrolina and also Juazeiro, in Bahia, and has become a major producer of wines – some of them ranked 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.

Tourism and Travel Guide to the Sertão of Pernambuco and the Northeast of Brazil