Ver-o-Peso

Ver-o-Peso is the reason you’d want to come all the way to Belém. It’s the sprawling regional market that has been held at the same riverside location for over 300 years. You might have seen it in one of the more memorable episodes of ‘No Reservations’ by Anthony Bourdain – somehow a hot and sweaty atmosphere always comes across well in that show.

I walked there from the city center in the early morning and wandered around on my own for an hour or so. The area didn’t feel unsafe and there also is some visible police presence. The ‘complex’ consists of a number of specialized markets; I visited them in the following order:

• Semi-covered market stalls: here they sell mainly vegetables and fruits, including local favourites such as the yellow tucupi sauce made out of the root of manioc, and tapioca flour. Intriguing small bottles hold medicinal herbs and perfumes made from native plants.
• The Iron Market a.k.a. the Fish Market, it is the iconic neogothic structure with its four towers; inside only fish is sold, and here I saw the gigantic pirarucu, that had been jumping up and down in front of my cabin in Mamiraua, dead on the counter.
• Directly behind it are the docks, where the fishes are unloaded from boats and also are sold fresh directly on the streets.
• The Clock Square has an iron-cast clock tower from England and a row of colourful colonial buildings.
• The Açaí …

In August 2018, I visited Belém, the capital of the Brazilian state of Pará. I stayed in the city center, a short walk to the Ver-o-peso market, where enormous freshwater fish from the Amazon are sold. In the outdoor areas surrounding the gothic fish market, shopkeepers offer açaí berries, fruits and vegetables, and Brazil nuts, and at least one resplendent vendor was peddling love potions and get-rich-quick elixirs.

Ver-o-Peso is a market complex, and it's the major tourist attraction of Belém, a city in North region of Brazil. It is located in the historic centre of the city (Campina district), on the banks of Guajará bay, so it's very easy to find. I visited this site in january 2018. 

For me the most important when going to Ver-o-Peso is to understand it is a mix of open air spaces and buildings, like a small district. I don't know which exactly is the proposed heritage area for this tentative site, but the protected area by the Brazilian Institute of Heritage (IPHAN) comprises Boulevard Castilhos França, the dock, the Fish Market (also known as Iron Market), the Municipal Market (also known as Meat Market), the Açaí market, the Clock Square, the Dom Pedro II Square, and Ladeira do Castelo street.

It's a big area, and I didn't visit the Dom Pedro II square, and the açaí market, an open air space for selling only a very popular local fruit named açaí. The major fair area is along Boulevard Castilhos França, in an open space with a tensile fabric roof, and there you can find things like fruits, spices, sauces, general food, some small animals alive, essences and natural medicines. The diversity of products there is impressive. I have to say the fabric roof is not very appealing, and I think they could find a better solution for protecting the area. I don't know how old this structure is, but it …