The armoury
Swords and knight's armour.
User:David Moraes de Andrade, cropped by User:Dornicke — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Valdiney Pimenta from Campinas - SP, Brazil — CC BY 2.0 · Fábio Santos — CC BY 2.0 · Marinelson Almeida - Traveling through Brazil from Niteroi, Brasil — CC BY 2.0
The Ricardo Brennand Institute is a private museum opened in 2002 by the Brazilian collector and industrialist Ricardo Brennand, in a castle-like complex in English Tudor style, the Castelo São João, with a drawbridge, carved coats of arms and a Gothic altarpiece brought from Europe, set in a large park with artificial lakes and big sculptures. It holds one of the world's largest collections of arms and armour, some 3,000 pieces, mostly from Europe and Asia between the 14th and 19th centuries: swords, daggers and full suits of knight's armour. It also has the world's largest collection of the Dutch painter Frans Post, the first to paint the landscapes of the New World, with maps, tapestries and documents from the Dutch rule of northeastern Brazil in the 17th century, and a library of more than 62,000 volumes. It lies in a quiet district west of the city, far from the centre, so take a taxi. It only opens in the afternoon, and deserves at least two hours.
Swords and knight's armour.
The world's largest set.
Lakes and a drawbridge.
Várzea district, west Recife
Tuesday to Sunday in the afternoon only, 13:00-17:00, last entry 16:30; the ticket is R$60.