Alcântara

Alcântara is a town in Maranhão, Brazil. Mostly visited on day trips from São Luís to get an even more colonial feeling.

Ruins of the Igreja Matriz de São Matias in Alcântara

An hour long boat ride from São Luís, two boats in the morning, returning in the afternoon.

The Pelourinho

• Ruins of church and other buildings.
• Museum devoted to rocket launching site located at military base near Alcântara.
• Igreja Matriz de São Matias. 
• Pelourinho of Alcântara. The old slave whipping post; it's the oldest extant one in Brazil. 

Reportedly there is some scattered nightlife here Thursdays through Sundays, then completely dead the next three days.