This small museum is located inside another location which also has other art exhibits…read more "Mamulengos" are puppets, but more than that--they are puppets from the northeast of Brazil, so they are culturally significant (and fun too!). The entry fee is a paltry $1, and considering how cute the items on display are, I strongly recommend a visit.

The Sacred Art Museum of Pernambuco is appropriately located inside a wonderful old building (built…read morein 1537) that served as the House of Representatives; in 1676, it became the palace of the 1st Bishop of the City of Olinda. This building and the surrounding area were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982. The collection is made up of various religious art and artifacts dating from the 16th Century. Currently, they are only open from 2 PM until 5 PM every day except Monday when it is closed. The admission is only R$6, which is just a little more than $1 US, so it's worth it.

"House of Giant Puppets" sounds like the name of a horror movie, but there you are. Let me explain:…read moreCarnaval is celebrated differently in many parts of the world (Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Carnaval in Venice or the Caribbean; Carnaval in Rio or other parts of Brazil); in Pernambuco and especially the city of Olinda. In Olinda, under normal circumstances, they have a parade with giant puppets. This is the only place that I know of that does this. When I say giant, I'm not kidding! The puppets are about 15 feet tall and weigh as much as 45 kilos! The puppeteers carry them on their heads through the streets and they are representations of popular local and international figures (the Hulk, Yoda, the Beatles, Greta Thunberg, scowling and many, many more). The most traditional and important are the "Midnight Man" (homem da meia noite) and the woman of noon (mulher do meio dia). Why? I don't know. But there they are! They also have "small" giant puppets for kids to carry through the streets. They are still about 10 feet tall and weigh about 4 kilos. Kids from 9 to 12 years old carry these through the winding streets of Olinda during Carnaval. After Carnaval, this museum stores many (but not all) of the puppets, and you can visit any day of the year. It costs about $5 to enter, but this year they had a discount (about $2 to enter). I highly recommend this for a tourist.