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Recife is spread out and somewhat hard to navigate. The Centro—with its mixture of high-rises, colonial churches, and markets—is always busy during the day. The crowds and the narrow streets can make finding your way around even more confusing. The Centro consists of three areas: Recife Antigo (the Old City); Recife proper, with the districts of Santo Antônio and São José; and the districts of Boa Vista and Santo Amaro. The first two areas are on islands formed by the rivers Capibaribe, Beberibe, and Pina; the third is on an island created by the Canal Tacaruna.
Six kilometers (4 miles) south of Centro is the upscale residential and beach district of Boa Viagem, reached by bridge across the Bacia do Pina. Praia da Boa Viagem (Boa Viagem Beach), the Copacabana of Recife, is chockablock with trendy clubs and restaurants as well as many moderately priced and expensive hotels.
Most of Old Recife's colonial-era public buildings and houses have been restored. The area between Rua do Bom Jesus and Rua do Apolo is full of shops, cafés, and bars, making it the hub of downtown life both day and night. On weekends there's live maracatu music and dancing, and a handicrafts fair is held Sunday from 2 to 8 on Rua do Bom Jesus.
In the heart of Rio Antigo, the city's original cultural and political meeting point of the 17th century was given a new lease on life by landscape architect Burle Marx in the 1930s, and now features rows of Imperial palms and a hundred-year-old Baobab tree among the elaborate 19th- and 20th-century architecture. Highlights include the Teatro Santa Isabel (St. Isabel Theater, 1850); the Palácio do Campo das Princesas, also known as the Palácio do Governo (Government House, 1841); and the Palácio da Justiça (Court House, 1930).
