Casas Pedro began in nineteen thirty-two as a small shop in the Saara region of downtown Rio de Janeiro. Founded by Pedro Felipe Mussalen, a Lebanese immigrant who fled the war, the business started as a modest storefront with living…
Saara Street Markets
Dive into Rio’s oldest and most chaotic market district, charting the legacy of Middle Eastern merchants, historic spice shops, and colorful carnival specialty stores.
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1. Casas Pedro
2. Mercado Popular Uruguaiana
The Mercado Popular Uruguaiana fills a three thousand square meter area in the center of Rio de Janeiro, defined by a maze of narrow alleys and over one thousand five hundred individual stalls. Divided into four distinct sections known as…
3. Aidan Festa & Cia
Aidan Festa and Cia is a fixture of the shopping district in downtown Rio de Janeiro known as the Saara. The storefronts, particularly those on Rua da Alfândega, are identified by a dense display of party supplies, culinary tools, and…
4. Bazar do Saara
Saara is a dense, eleven-block network of narrow streets in downtown Rio de Janeiro, recognizable by the sea of fabric, costumes, and everyday goods that spill out from thousands of tightly packed shops. While the name sounds like the…
5. Padaria Bassil
Padaria Bassil, located on Rua Senhor dos Passos in the heart of the Saara district, is distinguished by its interior walls covered in black and white tiles. Founded in nineteen thirteen by the Lebanese immigrant Tufi Bassil, this bakery…
6. Palácio dos Cristais
The Palácio dos Cristais is a distinctive commercial building in the heart of the Saara market district, recognizable by its ornate, glass-heavy facade that stands out against the dense urban sprawl. Unlike its namesake in the mountains of…