RouteBelém

Ver-o-Peso: The Greatest Market in the Amazon

The Ver-o-Peso market — in continuous operation since 1688 — is the symbolic heart of Belém and the greatest Amazonian market; the iron pavilions on the Guajará bay sell açaí, exotic fish, medicinal plants, and love potions in a cacophony of colour

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1
Iron pavilions by the water
Ver-o-Peso's Victorian iron market pavilions – imported from Britain in the 1800s and painted in blue and green – stand on the waterfront of Baía do Guajará; the combination of belle époque ironwork and tropical Amazonian opulence is spectacular
2
Açaí Berry Market
Belém is the world capital of açaí – the purple-black berry from the açaí palm – and Ver-o-Peso is where tons of it arrives by boat every morning; açaí is sold as frozen pulp and consumed for breakfast with shrimp and cassava flour
3
Amazon Fish Market
The fish market within Ver-o-Peso sells species from all over the Amazon - pirarucu (the world's largest scaly freshwater fish), tucunaré, dourado and the extraordinary variety of Amazonian fish that supplies Belém's cuisine
4
Seller of Medicinal Plants
Ver-o-Peso's medicinal plant section—with its piles of dried herbs, barks, resins, and animal parts—reflects the living indigenous pharmacopoeia of Amazonia; the vendors (known as erveiros) have encyclopedic knowledge of the remedies
5
Love Potions and Ritual Items
Ver-o-Peso sells patuás (amulets), boto-rosa dolphin parts (for love magic), jaguar teeth and ritual objects used in the local Afro-indigenous religious tradition (pajelança); the market is an extraordinary window into the cosmology of the Amazon
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Dawn Fish Arrival by Canoe
Ver-o-Peso dawn — when the wooden canoes (cascos) from the islands and rivers arrive with the night's catch — is Belém's most atmospheric hour; the unloading, the buyers, the shouts of the sellers and the fog rising from the river are unforgettable