This quarantine thing is reminding me of the time when I was a child when we used to tell stories of the hauntings and ghosts of Recife. It was like this: we gathered the group of friends on the street and after 10 pm each one tell a story.
I remember, as if it were today, the story of the emparedada of Rua Nova. I always went to town with daddy. We took the bus and got off “at the Iron Bridge” and walked to Rua Nova to buy clothes and shoes.
Rua nova, the old Barão de Vitória (1880) – https://br.pinterest.com/pin/712905815987001136/
Every time he went there, painho said: “Son, be quiet to hear the screams of the young girl who was walled up by her father”. He kept saying that a girl, the daughter of a merchant, had an affair with a night bohemian and left her father very unhappy. Then he called his daughter, leaned the girl against the wall and “made another wall in front” with her alive. Painho said that at that time the people heard the cries coming from the brick wall. If you go there at night, you still hear screams coming from the wall. This story is well written in the book “A emparedada da Rua Nova” by Carneiro Vilela that you can buy on the CEPE website.
This haunting thing in Recife is very serious. There are a lot of people who study, draw and write about it. See, I’ll give you an example: Do you know Gilberto Freyre? One of the main writers in Brazil and the world? He wrote a book called “Assombração do Recife Velho” that you can buy in several bookstores.
In the book, on page 78, he tells the story of Luiza, a girl who dreamed of getting married, but ended up being pulled into the Riacho da Prata (Silver Stream), in the Dois Irmãos neighborhood, by a haunt. Everyone says it was the ghost of Branca Dias, a lady who threw all her silver in the stream, so the name “Silver Stream”!
Take a look at nos passos de Branca Dias he tells a little about Branca Dias’ story and how she was chased.
Branca Dias House ou Silver’s Chalet – https://www.flickr.com/photos/ermo/3216178746
If you pass by there, on a night with a full moon, you will be able to see the reservoir shining like Banca Dias silvers and right in the middle of the reservoir, you will be able to see two figures. They say it is Branca Dias and the young Luiza. One thing is for sure, I don’t dare to go there.
Here in Recife there is a mass project to raise tourist awareness. They offer free guided tours of the city. There are bicycle, walking, catamaran and bus tours. Take a look at the Olha Recife Project website.
I once took the bus tour and the theme was “hauntings of Recife”. The guide spoke about a lot of hauntings, however, the story of the “debutante phantom” was the most terrifying of all: in the past the Recife’s International Club, Rua da Aurora there were always “debutante parties” or “15th birthday parties” . During a prom in 1920, a beautiful girl named Ana Lúcia ended up stumbling at the beginning of the stairs and went rolling until she reached the ground floor with a broken neck.
Internal Stairs of MAMAM – Foto: Sol Pulquério/PCR
Today the building houses the Museum of Modern Art Aloísio Magalhães – MAMAM, which has beautiful exhibitions, however, those who pass in front of the museum at night hear the noise of a young girl falling down the stairs.
Recife is a place like this: full of legends, haunting stories and tales that are passed on thanks to the power of the orality of the great storytellers who passed through here. Then you can pack your suitcase and remember to put some basic items to make a real “hunt for the shadows” with a candle, lantern and a camera to use when walking the streets, alleys, roads and alleys of the most haunted city straight from the world.
Serginho Xavier