What to See in Porto Alegre - Top Sights and Attractions

Market in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The Porto Alegre Public Market, in downtown Porto Alegre, Brazil, is the city's oldest public market. It also is an important historic landmark and a well-known meeting point, with many coffee shops and restaurants.

The cornerstone was laid on 29 August 1864, and it was constructed over an earlier and smaller market. Frederico Heydtmann designed the building, but his plan was substantially altered and enlarged. The inauguration took place on 3 October 1869. In 1886, 24 small shops were installed in the inner yard.

In 1912, while undergoing renovation, a fire destroyed all the stalls in the inner area. A second floor was added by 1913. The market suffered from a major flood in 1941, and from additional fires in 1976, 1979 and 2013. In the administration of Telmo Thompson Flores, it ran the risk of being demolished, but the outcry led to the reconsideration of the decision.

In 1990 the City administration organized a multidisciplinary team to develop a Restoration Project, which focused on the following goals:

• Rescue of the aesthetic quality of the building;
• Optimizing supply potentials;
• Creation of spaces of sociability.

The works included a modern structure of steel and glass to cover the large area of the inner yard, regained the visual perception of the inner arcades, renewed the internal circulations, created new living spaces, and deployed network infrastructure needed to handle the daily activities of a large and busy market.

The new cover allowed the integration between the ground floor and second floor. The second floor, where there were offices and public offices before, now has several popular establishments such as restaurants, snack bars, and coffee shops. With the works, the market also expanded its number of shops. The inauguration took place on 19 March 1997.

The Public Market is part of the traditions of the city, mainly for its "Banca 40" (an ice cream parlor), its centenary restaurant Gambrinus and one of the most traditional bars in town, the 101 years old Bar Naval (Navy Bar). There are about 109 shops, selling fresh produce and baked goods, locally raised meats and dairy products, and various other food items and also handcrafted goods. There are over 100,000 items for sale.

On 6 July 2013, the Public Market caught fire again. The fire is believed to have started at 20h30 on the upper floor at the corner of Avenida Borges de Medeiros and Júlio de Castilhos. Recent reports say that no people were injured, but 30% of the structure appeared to have burned down.^[2]

Cathedral in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady Mother of God also called Catedral Metropolitana de Porto Alegre is a cathedral of the Catholic Church which is located in the city center, in the Praça da Matriz in Porto Alegre a town in the State of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.

The story of the founding of the parish of Our Lady Mother of God is closely related to the origin of the city of Porto Alegre. With the transfer of the state capital of Viamão to Porto dos Casais, it became clear the need to build a new church, with dimensions corresponding to the new status of the city. On July 12, 1772, the viceroy ordered that land for the construction demarcate.

This Baroque style cathedral was designed by an unknown architect and has two bell towers flanking the main entrance. These towers were brought from Rio de Janeiro in 1774.

The current cathedral was built in 1921-1972.^[8]

The Church of Our Lady of Navigators is a Roman Catholic Marian church located in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil. It is one of the most popular Roman Catholic churches in the city and is the focus of one of the largest processions in the city each year on February 2. The current church was built in 1919 and is devoted to Our Lady of Navigators.

The devotion to Our Lady of Navigators started in Porto Alegre in 1869 by Bishop Sebastião Dias Laranjeira who commissioned the sculptor João Afonseca Lapa to build a statue of the Virgin Mary. The statue was first installed in 1871 in another church and was carried in processions.

In 1875 Margarida Teixeira de Paiva donated land for the construction of a church devoted to Our Lady of Navigators and city volunteers built the first church in wood. This first chapel was destroyed by fire, and in 1896 another was erected in the same place, but also caught fire in 1910. Community volunteers again built a new church which was completed in 1912 and formally inaugurated on 23 March 1913, with a new statue of the Blessed Virgin again made by João Afonseca Lapa similar to the one lost in the fire.

The building has been renovated and expanded over the years. It has a Gothic style, with one central tower and two aisles with a series of buttresses, pinnacles and small pillars highlighted abroad. Over the doorway is a bas-relief with the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary saving the shipwrecked.^[14]

The Archdiocesan Sanctuary Nossa Senhora Madre de Deus is a Catholic church located at the top of the Pedra Redonda hill, Santuário Street, near Alpes Road, in Porto Alegre. The project for the building dates back to 1987, but its construction was delayed due to environmental concerns, and its cornerstone could only be laid on August 16, 1992, being consecrated by the Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Joachim Meisner. It was completed in June 2000 as part of the Third Millennium celebrations.

It has 700 m² of built area, divided into two floors. It is a steel, brick, and glass structure with bold lines, defined mainly by the large gable roof that organizes the whole structure and extends to ground level. It has a series of stained glass windows illustrating the Old Testament and the Sacraments, and a large statue of the Patroness, from Italy, sculpted in linden wood. It is a very sought after Sanctuary also for its ecological beauty and the spectacular 360 degree view of Porto Alegre and adjacent cities including the Guaíba estuary and the entrance to Lagoa dos Patos (Itapuã lighthouse). For this reason the city's tourist bus passes by the site several times a day.

The Shrine complex includes an independent bell tower and sanitary facilities for the large public that attends on festive occasions and pilgrimages. For these events an open-air altar was installed on the esplanade in front of the temple, from where one can also enjoy a magnificent view of the entire Porto Alegre region and the Guaíba estuary.

Since January 1, 2010 the Shrine has been administered by the Redemptorist Fathers. Currently the rector is Fr Claudio Mallmann, CSsR and the administrator is Fr Danilo Bulegon, CSsR.

When, in 1626, the Jesuit missionary saint Roque Gonzales, coming from Paraguay, crossed the Uruguay River penetrating the gaúcho soil, he baptized this region with the Guarani name Tupan-cy-retan = land of the Mother of God. In 1773, the then governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Colonel José Marcellino de Figueiredo, when transferring the capital from Viamão to Porto Alegre, with permission from the ecclesiastical authority, also changed the patron saint, which was S. Francisco das Chagas, to N. Sra. Madre (Mother) of God. From this date until our days and always, the Mother of God is the patroness of the Capital and of the Archdiocese of Porto Alegre. And, for this reason, the Cathedral is dedicated to the Mother of God.

Research institution in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul is a Brazilian public federal research university based in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. UFRGS is among the largest and highest-rated universities in Brazil, having one of the largest number of scientific publications. From 2012 to 2019, the university was elected as the best federal university of Brazil. UFRGS has over 31,000 undergraduate students, over 12,000 graduate students, and more than 2,600 faculty members. As a Brazilian public federal institution, students do not pay tuition fees to enroll in courses offered by the university.

Among the main alumni affiliated with UFRGS, there are three former presidents of Brazil, former state governors, former members of the Supreme Federal Court, members of the Brazilian Academy of Letters and important Brazilian actors, musicians and journalists.^[21]

Building in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The Godoy House is a historic building on Independência Avenue in the city of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

The house is one of the rare remaining buildings in the Art Nouveau style in Porto Alegre, dating from 1907.

Aside from its architectural importance, the house saw intense social activity throughout its history. It was originally built for Arno Bastian Meyer and his family between 1904 and 1907. Later, with the separation of the Meyers, the house was rented to the Greco family. In 1926 businessman Francisco Tschiedel purchased the house, and in 1939 it was acquired by the psychiatrist doctor Jacintho Godoy, an illustrious social figure of the time, and the house became the meeting point for notables of Porto Alegre's society between the years of 1939 and 1959.

The house was built utilizing imported technology at the time, with masonry and iron works in harmony with its style. Much care was taken with every detail of the house, from the choice of materials used, to the embellishments and ceilings and walls, and furniture, forming a notable coherent style throughout.

The architect, Hermann Menschen, was a German immigrant who worked for Rudolph Ahrons' renowned engineering company, and was responsible for its projects department until 1907.

The house's three stories, totaling 719.39 m2 (7,743.4 sq ft), are divided as ground floor, second floor, and loft. The facade is embellished with floral and whiplash motifs characteristic of the style, and elaborated wrought iron bars adorn the windows on the ground floor. The only opening to the loft is framed in an impressive gable that dominates the facade. Above the front door there is a relatively small stained glass window.

The interior, Dr. Godoy installed his home office on the ground floor where the above-ground cellar used to be, connected to the rear of the house where the kitchen, annex, and backyard are located. On the second floor, a hallway interconnects the four bedrooms and the bathroom. On the front part of the house on the second floor was located the drawing room, and to the rear the dining room, smoking room, and music room, all connected to a veranda with ornate iron balustrade. Many notable frescoes, stained glass, and decor remain, reminiscent from the original construction.

The Godoy House was listed for preservation on November 26, 1996, and acquired by the City Hall. Since 1998, the Coordenação da Memória Cultural da Secretaria Municipal de Cultura e a Equipe do Patrimônio Histórico e Cultural operates at the house.^[23]