Colonial ruins
Roofless façades.
GLandovsky — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sintegrity — CC BY-SA 4.0 · BeCarol13 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Túllio F — CC BY 4.0
Alcântara is a small colonial town on the far shore of São Marcos Bay, some thirty kilometres from São Luís, reached by boat. It was a Tupinambá village when the French arrived in 1612 and built its first chapel; after they were driven out the Portuguese settled it, making it the town of Santo Antônio de Alcântara in 1648, and it grew rich on sugar and cotton. When that trade collapsed many wealthy residents left, and their mansions and churches remained as ruins among the trees, which gives the town its quiet charm today: stone streets, empty squares and roofless façades. Near the town lies Brazil's rocket launch base. Boats cross the bay in about an hour, with times that shift with the tide, so check with the São Luís boat terminal the day before. They usually leave in the morning and return in the afternoon, enough for a day trip.
Roofless façades.
By boat.
Quiet and empty.
Across São Marcos Bay, about 30 km from São Luís
By boat across São Marcos Bay in about an hour; times shift with the tide, so check at the boat terminal the day before.