São José: Feira da Freguesia Street Market

Street markets are definitely a Sunday program. And guess what, Feira da Freguesia only happens on the second Sunday of each month in a square at São José, which is a city pretty near Florianópolis. And the best part is that it happens in the Historical Center of the city, so there are more than just the market for you to take a look.

THE STREET MARKET

As you can see from the picture above the square has a lot of trees so most of the tents are in the shadow. There, you will find mainly handicraft objects and food. There are some amazing work there. I liked the woodwork the most, I saw some tables and accessories to store glasses and recipients. But of course you will find some needlework like towels and furniture ornaments.

The tents in the middle of the square related to food sells things like bread, cookies, small desserts and pop corn. The streets around the square are closed for cars on this day, so there are some food trucks parked there, which is good if you are thinking about having lunch. Of course there is a limited amount of options, but I liked the variety, because the day I was there I saw options like Syrian food, pastel—a very common and delicious Brazilian fast food which is a sort of deep fried pie—, hamburger, barbecue, acarajé and tapioca—which are also very Brazilian foods.

Food trucks parked around the square. You can see the acarajé food truck right there.

We chose the barbecue, a small plate with meat, sausage and bread slices accompanied by farofa—a toasted cassava flour mixture according to wikipedia, also something very Brazilian. It wasn't big, but since we weren't very hungry it was enough for two. Later we ate churros—a very famous fried dough in Spain and Mexico that is now very famous in Brazil too. We ended completely full.

Barbecue plate.

In the very middle of the square there was a small stage with music flowing out of some speakers. A little after 2 PM that Sunday in November there was a Capoeira presentation—a Brazilian type of martial arts that involves dance. 

Capoeira.

THE SURROUNDINGS 

But you don't have to be in the square all the time because, as I said, you will be at the Historical Center of the city. So, what can you also see there?

• Cultural House: a building with two floors where you can see some art exposition and very, very big dolls in animal shapes which are part of the folklore, all of this on the first floor. The funniest thing about this house is that many, many years ago the first floor was the city jail and the second floor was the city council. Nowadays, there is nothing on the second floor, we just saw two rooms: one with a group playing board games and the other one empty but with a great window view of the market (you can also find bathrooms here).

Dolls in animal shapes to be used in folklore performances.

• Library: a very cute blue building houses the municipal library. As expected, there are shelves filled with many books, but nothing spectacular or pretty.

Municipal Library.

• Church: a building, like both above, with an architecture style inherited from the Portuguese colonizers. It is simple but beautiful from the outside and the inside.

Church.

• Museum: the Historical Municipal Museum that tells the story of what the city once was. It is actually a very simple museum, but with many old and interesting objects. In half an hour or less it's possible to take a great look inside. 

Historical Municipal Museum.

• Ocean: if you walk just one block from the square you will reach the ocean and from this spot you can have a distant view of Florianópolis. I love landscapes so this is a nice program for me, seat and relax looking at the horizon.

Sightseeing spot near the square.

Well, in all the places I cited above the entrance is free of charge. And while you allow yourself to walk around there you will see some other old buildings and monuments. 

EXTRA

Address: Praça Hercílio Luz - Centro.