The Palacete Camboã is one of the finest examples of 19th-century merchant architecture in São Luís, a large townhouse near the port whose facade is covered in an unusually complex pattern of azulejo tiles imported from Portugal. The building was constructed at the height of the cotton boom, when São Luís merchants were among the wealthiest people in northeastern Brazil.
The building has been used for various cultural purposes over the years and is currently partially accessible to visitors. Even from the street, the facade is extraordinary: the tiles here are among the most elaborate in the city, featuring pictorial panels that depict scenes from classical mythology amid intricate geometric borders.