Imperatriz is a city in western Maranhão. Second largest of its state, with some 260,000 inhabitants (2020), it provides a peek into a quite distant Brazil. Imperatriz is the starting point for ecological tourism in several places in the south and southwest of the state of Maranhão, including the cities of Carolina and Riachão and Chapada das Mesas.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons contributors.
Imperatriz is the second largest economic, cultural and population center of the state and the main region that binds the southwest of Maranhão, the north of Tocantins and the south of Pará. The history and development of Imperatriz gave it several titles including the "Gateway of the Amazon" and "Capital of Energy." The city is a center for mining, mainly in the reserve of Ciriaco, a neighboring region. Imperatriz has a typical tropical savanna climate, and is well known for its changeable weather conditions, with a wet season, during spring and summer months (November to April), and a dry one, during fall and winter months (May to November).
Timbira Archeology and History Research Center, Rua Godofredo Viana at Rua Monte Castelo. A museum of the material and immaterial culture of the southern region of Maranhão. (updated Dec 2021)
Freitas Parque Aquático, on the banks of the BR-010 close to the Exhibition Park, is a modern water park. During the summer season, the beaches on the Tocantins River appear. They have a large structure for cleaning, security (on land and water), lighting, a stage and sand courts. In the south of Maranhão and near Imperatriz, you can visit the Três Marias Waterfall, Macapá Waterfall, and Santa Luzia Ecological Park 1 Chapada das Mesas National Park. This 160,000-ha park is extremely rich in species of animals and plants. The waterfalls that stand out are São Romão and Cachoeira da Prata. São Romão has the largest volume of water in the region.
In the city, restaurants serve dishes developed with regional products into the local menu. An example is the baião de Dois, rice with cuxá, as well as local cakes and sweets. The beef and cassava barbecue also stands out. Fish also have their gastronomic importance, with pacu, golden, painted and tambaqui being very common. Dishes that are also common are those made with pequi, such as rice or chicken with pequi, in addition to the panada, regional food very common in the region, found in many parts of the city. Among those mentioned, there is the traditional panelada, sold in an environment that sell homemade food and in traditional stalls on Avenida Bernardo Sayão, occupying the space pop…
Guide content from Wikivoyage contributors (CC BY-SA) — abridged; the full article has much more.
In Aug, Imperatriz typically sees ~35°C daytime highs and 5 rainy days.
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