The Great Brazilian Road Trip stops at a UNESCO Heritage Site to break up the drive.
São Cristóvão
On any road trip, there are long days of driving where the main goal is just get from "here" to "there." On days like this, you cycle through conversation topics, playlists, and podcasts and, after a while, you start looking for an excuse to get out of the car and walk around.
On one such day, we Googled "sights to see" in our area. We had two choices: Aracaju or São Cristóvão. Aracaju boasts a boardwalk (complete with giant crab) and several seaside restaurants whereas historic São Cristóvão is a UNESCO Heritage site and is closer to the freeway. We voted for easy-access history.
The settlement of São Cristóvão was established on January 1st, 1590. Wikipedia describes it as the "fourth oldest settlement in Brazil" although it seems like many places make similar claims. Regardless of where it ranks, history is history and we were excited to learn all about it.
We parked next to the Sao Francisco Square and were immediately approached by a tour guide. What convenience! Of course, we said "yes."
The historic center of São Cristóvão is fairly small - roughly 4 to 5 blocks in size - so our tour went by relatively quickly, lasting about an hour.
Our guide was bursting with historical facts and enthusiasm for leading his first tour in several days. He managed to get us special access to the Santa Cruz Church and Convent, both of which are still functional today.
Unfortunately, one of the nuns forgot we were taking a tour and, seeing an open door, locked us inside. We had a good chuckle, especially after we realized it was a Sunday afternoon. (A sign from God, perhaps?)
After a few minutes of shouting for the nuns, one appeared to let us out. I consider this little adventure to be the highlight of our tour, for sure.
Like all of the other tours on this trip, our guide spoke in rapid-fire Portuguese. Although I can usually catch ~70% of "normal" Portuguese conversations, many historical words and phrases are lost on me. As usual, Vitor stepped in to translate.
Some good news: After becoming a UNESCO heritage site in 2010, historic São Cristóvão received an infusion of bi-lingual (Portuguese-English) signage. This was immensely helpful and greatly improved my tour experience.
If you aren't fluent in Portuguese, or if you would rather tour solo, these signs make it possible for you to be your own guide.
Getting There
São Cristóvão is a 20 minute drive off the BR-101 (349) freeway, roughly 30 minutes south-west of the Sergipe state capitol, Aracaju.
If you're heading north-south between Salvador and Aracaju, you'll likely see the brown historical marker signs advertising the exit for historic São Cristóvão. That said, once you exit the freeway, signage is limited so we recommend you also follow Waze or Google Maps.
A giant "World Heritage Site: São Cristóvão" sign appears once you enter town limits. This was a little confusing to us at first as the modern day town looks fairly rough and there's minimal signage directing you towards the historic center (which is deep inside the town and up a hill). If you get lost, try asking someone to point you towards "Praca do Sao Francisco."
Overall:
Historic São Cristóvão (Saint Christopher) is a worthwhile pitstop if you're on a Northeastern road trip that passes through/ near Aracaju.
Bi-lingual signs let you serve as as your own guide, although guided (Portuguese) tours are available too.
The general town of São Cristóvão isn't particularly welcoming, but don't let that stop you from exploring something a little off the beaten track.
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