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Aracaju is the capital of Sergipe in northeastern Brazil, a coastal city near the mouth of the Sergipe River famous for Atalaia Beach and its long seafront promenade. Its top sights are the Atalaia seafront with the Passarela do Caranguejo and the turtle-shaped oceanarium, the riverside Praça Fausto Cardoso, the Palácio Olímpio Campos and the Museu da Gente Sergipana.
Aracaju grew from the village of Santo Antônio de Aracaju, first recorded in 1699 beside the Sergipe River; its name may come from the Tupi for cashew tree of the macaws. On 17 March 1855 the provincial president moved the capital here from inland São Cristóvão, and the engineer Pirro laid out the new city on a planned grid.
Today Aracaju is a city of about 600,000 people with one of the lowest costs of living among Brazil's capitals. From here, boats leave for the sandbanks of the Vaza-Barris, and day trips reach the colonial towns of São Cristóvão and Laranjeiras and the dunes of Mangue Seco.
Atalaia Beach is the best-known and busiest beach in Aracaju, backed by the Orla de Atalaia, a landscaped seafront whose blue-tiled arches, first built in 1994, are the city's postcard. Along it run cycle paths, sports courts, artificial lakes, a kart track, bars and restaurants and most hotels.
The Passarela do Caranguejo is a walkway and food corridor on the Orla de Atalaia in Aracaju, lined with bars and restaurants serving a wide range of dishes. It is one of the city's main tourist spots and the favourite meeting place on New Year's Eve, when its bars put on special programmes.
Oceanário de Aracaju, the Tamar visitor centre on the Orla de Atalaia, is a building shaped like a giant sea turtle that opened in June 2002 as the first oceanarium in northeastern Brazil. Its 18 aquariums show about 70 species native to Sergipe, with talks on marine conservation.
Ponte Construtor João Alves is the bridge that links Aracaju with Barra dos Coqueiros across the Sergipe River, opened on 24 September 2006. Built by almost a thousand workers and visible from the centre to the river mouth, it opened Sergipe's north coast beaches to visitors from the capital.
Praça Fausto Cardoso, laid out in 1857 overlooking the Sergipe River, is the oldest square in Aracaju and home to the state assembly and court of justice. At its centre stands the first public statue in Sergipe, of Fausto Cardoso, the influential politician assassinated in August 1906.
Palácio Olímpio Campos is the former provincial and state government palace on Praça Fausto Cardoso in Aracaju, built between 1859 and 1863 and visited by Emperor Pedro II while still under construction. It served as the seat of the Sergipe government until 1995 and became a museum in 2010.
Aracaju Metropolitan Cathedral, the church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, was begun in 1862 and inaugurated on 22 December 1875, becoming a cathedral in 1910. Its architecture mixes neoclassical and neo-Gothic features with pointed arches, and it has been a protected monument since 1985.
Museu da Gente Sergipana is an interactive multimedia museum in Aracaju, opened on 26 November 2011 in a restored 1926 building known as the Atheneuzinho. Designed by Marcello Dantas, it brings Sergipe's accents, festivals, food and landscapes to life and was named attraction of the year in 2013.
Orla Pôr do Sol is a wooden pier over the mangroves of the Vaza-Barris River in the Mosqueiro area south of Aracaju, loved for its sunsets. Catamarans leave from here for the sandbank of Croa do Goré and the Ilha dos Namorados, and there is a craft fair with live music on Saturdays.
São Francisco Square is the historic square of São Cristóvão, 21 km from Aracaju and the first capital of Sergipe, laid out with the town in 1607. Lined with buildings of the 17th to 19th centuries, it was inscribed by UNESCO in 2010 as an example of Portuguese and Spanish urban planning combined.
Laranjeiras is a colonial town near Aracaju, once the most important city in Sergipe and called the Athens of Sergipe, home of the sugar aristocracy until its decline after 1904. Its sights include the gold-decorated Capela Sant'Anninha of 1860, the Igreja do Retiro of 1701 and the Igreja do Bonfim.
Mangue Seco is a small fishing village and beach on the Real River at the far northern tip of Bahia, best reached via Aracaju by crossing the river from Sergipe. Its sandy streets, white dunes and coconut groves were made famous by the 1989 TV novela Tieta, based on Jorge Amado's novel.
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