Choose wisely. Connect locally.Add your business 
Belém sits where the Amazon meets the Atlantic, a humid, colourful port city on Guajará Bay that has been the doorway to the rainforest since the Portuguese built a fort here in 1616. Rubber-boom fortunes of the late nineteenth century paid for its grand theatre, tiled mansions and iron market halls, giving the old centre a faded Belle Époque charm.
Today the city is known above all for its food and its faith. Ver-o-Peso market overflows with river fish, tropical fruits, herbs and açaí, and Belém has been named a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy for dishes such as tacacá and pato no tucupi. Each October the Círio de Nazaré procession fills the streets with huge crowds of pilgrims carrying an image of Our Lady of Nazareth.
Between the colonial churches of Cidade Velha and the riverside warehouses of Estação das Docas, there are green refuges such as the Goeldi Museum park and Mangal das Garças. Boats cross the river to Combu Island for jungle creeks and riverside restaurants.
The city began here in 1616, when the Portuguese built a wooden fort on this point to secure the mouth of the Amazon. The rebuilt stone fort holds a small museum of finds from the region's Indigenous cultures, and its ramparts and old cannons look out over the bay and the Ver-o-Peso market.
Named for the eleven windows across its façade, this eighteenth-century mansion beside the fort was once a sugar baron's house and later a military hospital. It now shows modern and contemporary art from Pará and beyond, and its terrace bar looks across the bay, ideal in the late afternoon.
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of Grace faces Praça Frei Caetano Brandão in the old town, its twin bell towers rising over the square. Rebuilt in the eighteenth century with work by the Italian architect Antonio Landi, it has a bright interior and a marble high altar.
Built by the Jesuits around 1700, this church and its former college now house the Museum of Sacred Art. The nave keeps finely carved wooden pulpits and altars made by Indigenous craftsmen under Jesuit direction, and the galleries show statues, silver and paintings. It faces the cathedral.
Belém's sprawling waterfront market centres on a turreted iron fish hall and a long run of stalls by the bay. Vendors sell Amazon fish, unusual fruits, manioc flours, herbal remedies and fresh açaí unloaded from boats at dawn. Go before mid-morning, keep valuables close and eat at the food counters.
Three old iron port warehouses on the riverfront became this lively complex of restaurants, bars, shops and an ice cream parlour serving Amazon fruit flavours. A promenade runs along the water, and cruises leave from its pier. Come for sunset over Guajará Bay, then stay for dinner.
Opened in 1878 during the rubber boom, this neoclassical theatre on Praça da República is one of the grandest in Brazil, with a columned portico, painted ceilings, chandeliers and tiers of boxes. Guided tours show the auditorium and upstairs salon, and the season includes opera, ballet and concerts.
This richly decorated basilica in the Nazaré district houses the small image of Our Lady of Nazareth venerated by vast crowds at the Círio each October. Marble, mosaics and stained glass glow beneath its high nave. Outside the festival it is calm and welcoming; dress respectfully during services.
On the bank of the Guamá River near the old town, this landscaped park recreates Amazon habitats with ponds full of scarlet ibis and herons, a butterfly house and an aviary. An observation tower gives wide views over the river and city, and a waterside restaurant serves regional food.
The Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, one of the oldest research institutions in the Amazon, runs this zoo-botanical park in the city centre. Shaded paths lead past giant trees, ponds with manatees and turtles, and enclosures with jaguars and native birds. Allow two hours and bring insect repellent.
Opened in the late nineteenth century, this large park preserves a stretch of original Amazon forest inside the city. Trails wind under tall trees past ponds, small grottoes and sculptures, and agoutis wander freely across the paths. It gives welcome shade on a hot day.
A short boat ride across the Guamá River brings you to Combu, a forested island laced with narrow creeks and stilt houses. Riverside restaurants serve fish and açaí on decks over the water, and some families show how cocoa is grown and turned into chocolate. Boats leave from Praça Princesa Isabel.
No reviews yet. Been to Belém? Be the first to share your experience.
Share what you loved, what to skip and tips for other travelers.
Log in to write a reviewBeen to Belém? Add your best shots to the gallery.
Log in to add photosPhoto: Ridiculopathy, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Socorrosimonetti, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Daniel Sousa, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Prburley, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Prburley, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Prburley, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Prburley, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Antonio de Oliveira, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Prburley, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Prburley, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Prburley, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Prburley, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Prburley, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Prburley, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Prburley, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Prburley, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Prburley, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Sintegrity, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Sintegrity, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Prburley, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Túllio Franca, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Helena Domingos, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Antonio de Oliveira, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Lucas Barreto Rodrigues, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: JLPizzol, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Celso Roberto de Abreu Silva from Belém, Brasil, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Ricardo Paranhos, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Ricardo Paranhos, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Ricardo Paranhos, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Celso Abreu from Belém, Brasil, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Ridiculopathy, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Socorrosimonetti, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Carlos Ebert from São Paulo, BrazilGRU, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Carlos Ebert from São Paulo, BrazilGRU, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Prburley, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Prburley, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Joao Paulo Bessa Brito, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Joao Paulo Bessa Brito, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Joao Paulo Bessa Brito, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Socorrosimonetti, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Cayambe, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Cayambe, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Cayambe, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Bgabel, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Bgabel, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Cayambe, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Cayambe, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Espaço São José Liberto, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Fernando Dall'Acqua, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Celso Abreu from Belém, Brasil, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Celso Roberto de Abreu Silva from Belém, Brasil, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: João paulo da costa guimarães, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: João paulo da costa guimarães, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Antonio de Oliveira, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Prburley, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Prburley, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Celso Abreu from Belém, Brasil, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Marcos Eduardo e Lima, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Kamile saraiva, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Maria josé pereira porto, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Paul R. Burley, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Paul R. Burley, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Paul R. Burley, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Prburley, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Photo: Marajonida, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Marajonida, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Marajonida, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Alvaro Roberto Veras Carneiro, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Alvaro Roberto Veras Carneiro, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Pedro Matheus Ferreira Brito, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
