Caruaru, 134km/83mi west of Recife, is famous for its pottery and has been classed by UNESCO as one of the most important craft centers in South America. It is on BR 232, which traverses the whole breadth of Pernambuco state, making it a gateway to the sertão.
5km/3mi from the town center in the Alto do Moura district, near the Vila dos Ceramistas, is the Museu Mestre Vitalino, which preserves the tools used by Mestre Vitalino.
The Museu do Barro (Espaço Cultural Tancredo Neves, a little way east of the railway station) displays examples of the pottery figures of Mestre (Master) Vitalino and other local craftsmen.
The Craft Market (Feira de Artesanato) is held daily from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Parque 18 de Maio. The main tourist attraction, however, is the Free Market (Feira Livre), held on Wednesdays and Saturdays in the town center. Among the wares on show are pottery, richly decorated leatherwork and basketry. Singers and writers vie with one another in offering for sale literatura del cordel (a type of trivial illustrated literature which is now popular only in north-eastern Brazil). Further variety is added to the scene by artists and marching bands.
1km/.7mi outside the town is the Morro do Bom Jesus, with a chapel and fourteen Stations of the Cross. A flight of 365 steps leads up to the top of the hill.
The Museu do Forró (in the Casa de Cultura José Conde in the Parque 18 de Maio) displays musical instruments and other objects from the everyday life of the sertão. (The forró is a dance popular in north-eastern Brazil).
51km/322mi north-west of Caruaru is Fazenda Nova, a village in the commune of Brejo da Madre de Deus. 1km/.7mi outside the village is the open-air theatre of Nova Jerusalém, a partial reconstruction of a stone-built Biblical town as it may have looked in the time of Christ. A Passion play is performed here annually during Holy Week.
3km/2mi from Caruaru is the Parque das Esculturas, a sculpture park containing numerous stone statues.
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Missa do Vaqueiro
