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Mossoró is the second-largest city of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, an inland oil and fruit hub famous for driving off Lampião's cangaceiro band in 1927 and for one of Brazil's biggest June festivals. Its top sights are the Capela de São Vicente, the Memorial da Resistência, the Catedral de Santa Luzia and the Estação das Artes.
Split from Assu in 1852, the town freed its slaves in 1883, five years before Brazil's Lei Áurea, and in 1928 teacher Celina Guimarães Viana cast the first female vote in the country. On 13 June 1927 its people, with trenches set up by mayor Rodolfo Fernandes, fought off Lampião in his only defeat, leaving the bandit Jararaca behind.
Mossoró is the largest municipality in the state by area, about 2,100 km2, and lies 281 km from Natal on the BR-304 between Natal and Fortaleza, with some 265,000 people. It is one of Brazil's largest onshore oil producers and exports irrigated fruit, and each June the Mossoró Cidade Junina festival draws huge crowds.
Capela de São Vicente is the historic chapel of São Vicente de Paulo in Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, conceived during the great drought of 1915. On 13 June 1927 it served as the main trench of the townsfolk against Lampião's band, and its towers still bear the bullet marks of the fight.
Memorial da Resistência Mossoroense is a museum in Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, on the cangaço and the town's defeat of Lampião's band in 1927. Its three floors hold four modules: the story of the movement, the resistance heroes, photos of the changing city and a hall with films and a café.
Chuva de Bala no País de Mossoró is an open-air play staged in Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, in the June festival, recalling the attack of Lampião and his band on the town in 1927. Performed since 2003 in front of the Capela de São Vicente, it is set where townsfolk and bandits clashed.
Museu Histórico Lauro da Escóssia is the municipal history museum of Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, named for journalist Lauro da Escóssia and set in the town's old public jail. Created in 1948, it is part of the city's cultural centre, with exhibits and documents on the history of Mossoró.
Catedral de Santa Luzia is the cathedral of Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, on Praça Vigário Antônio Joaquim, on the site of a chapel founded in 1772 on the Santa Luzia farm. Rebuilt from 1858 over ten years, it got its towers only in 1910 and became the seat of the new Diocese of Mossoró in 1934.
Praça Vigário Antônio Joaquim is the cathedral square in the centre of Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, home to the Catedral de Santa Luzia and declared the city's marco zero by a 2018 law. A statue of Dix-Sept Rosado, the mayor who became state governor in 1951, has stood here since 1953.
Mercado Municipal de Mossoró is the historic public market in central Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, its building delivered in 1877 to replace a thatched shelter where meat was sold. Substantially renovated in 1908, it once gathered traders selling grain, meat, fruit, leather, pottery and sweets.
Teatro Lauro Monte Filho is the older of the two theatres of Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, a 483-seat hall in the city centre. It occupies the building of the former Cine Cid, a cinema facing Praça Vigário Antônio Joaquim that opened on 22 July 1964 with the film O Candelabro Italiano.
Estação das Artes Elizeu Ventania is the old railway station of Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, now an arts venue that houses the Museu do Petróleo on oil in the state. Each June its grounds of over 48,000 m2 become the Estação do Forró, the heart of the Mossoró Cidade Junina festival.
Teatro Municipal Dix-Huit Rosado is the main theatre of Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, built by the city with Petrobras in 2003 on Avenida Rio Branco, part of the city's culture corridor. Its Italian-style stage faces 740 seats in stalls, boxes and galleries, plus a foyer, cafés and a rehearsal room.
Mossoró Cidade Junina is the June festival of Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, one of the largest São João festivals in Brazil, drawing over a million people to the Corredor Cultural. Free to attend, it has stages for big national acts, food stalls and contests of stylised quadrilha dance groups.
Auto da Liberdade is billed as Brazil's largest open-air stage show, held each September in Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte. It celebrates the town's four acts of freedom: the 1875 women's riot, the 1883 abolition of slavery, the 1927 stand against Lampião and the first female vote in 1928.
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Log in to add photosPhoto: Patrick - Patrick, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Photo: Marcos Elias de Oliveira Júnior, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Marcos Elias de Oliveira Júnior, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
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Photo: Marcos Elias de Oliveira Júnior, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Marcos Elias de Oliveira Júnior, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Patrick - Patrick, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: MTur Destinos, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
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Photo: Ridiculopathy, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Marcos Elias de Oliveira Júnior, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Marcos Elias de Oliveira Júnior, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: MTur Destinos, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: MTur Destinos, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: MTur Destinos, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Marcos Elias de Oliveira Júnior, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Patrick - Patrick, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Marcos Elias de Oliveira Júnior, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Marcos Elias de Oliveira Júnior, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Marcos Elias de Oliveira Júnior, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Marcos Elias de Oliveira Júnior, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Marcos Elias de Oliveira Júnior, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: MTur Destinos, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: MTur Destinos, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: George Vale from Mossoró, Brasil, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: George Vale from Mossoró, Brasil, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: George Vale from Mossoró, Brasil, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
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