Experience the best of Belém

Belém, the capital of Pará state, stands on Guajará Bay near the mouth of the Amazon and was founded as a Portuguese fort in 1616. Mango trees line its streets, which has earned it the nickname City of Mango Trees, and rain falls on most afternoons. The Forte do Presépio and the cathedral stand in the old centre, and the Theatro da Paz, a neoclassical opera house from 1878, faces a leafy square.

Ver-o-Peso, a riverside market of fish, herbs, fruit and stalls beneath an iron-framed hall, is the centre of local life. The Basilica of Nazaré is the heart of the Círio de Nazaré, a huge religious procession each October. Estação das Docas, restored port warehouses with cafés, overlooks the water, and boats cross to Combu island, to the Mosqueiro beaches and to Marajó, an island of water buffalo.

Tacacá, a hot soup of tucupi (cassava juice), jambu leaves that tingle the tongue and dried shrimp, is served from street stalls in the afternoon. Duck cooked in tucupi, açaí eaten with fish and flour, and cupuaçu desserts are other Pará staples.