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 African desert, it is an acronym for the Sociedade de Amigos das Adjacências da Rua da Alfândega, or the Society of Friends of the Area around Customs Street. This association formed in nineteen sixty-two when local merchants organized to block an urban project that threatened to tear down their storefronts.
Bazar do Saara
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