What to See in São Paulo - Top Sights and Attractions

Park in São Paulo, Brazil. Ibirapuera Park is an urban park in São Paulo. It comprises 158 hectares between Av. República do Líbano, Av. Pedro Alvares Cabral, and Av. IV Centenário, and is the most visited park in South America, with 14.4 million visits in 2017.

Ibirapuera Park was the first metropolitan park in São Paulo, designed along the lines of other great English landscape gardens built in the 20th century in major cities around the globe, but inspired on modern drafts from the landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx. It was inaugurated on 21 August 1954 for the 400th anniversary of the city of São Paulo with buildings designed by architect João Felipe Pereira and landscape by agronomist Otávio Augusto Teixeira Mendes. The construction of several pavilions in the park was controversial when the park was designed, and group of people advocated for an exclusively green park rather than one that included buildings. In the 90s, its green areas were graded heritage-listed status by the city and the state of São Paulo to avoid further construction and keep its historical gardens and green open spaces preserved. In 2016, the complex of buildings designed by Niemeyer in the park were also registered as national landmark by the National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute.

Ibirapuera is one of Latin America's largest urban parks, together with Chapultepec Park in Mexico City and Simón Bolívar Park in Bogota, and its iconic importance to São Paulo is often internationally comparable to that of Central Park to New York City. The park is often cited as one of the most vibrant and photographed parks in the world, as together with its large area for leisure, jogging and walking, it hosts a vivid cultural scene with museums, a music hall, and popular events such as São Paulo Fashion Week, congresses and trade shows. It is claimed to be the most visited urban park in South America, is listed as one of the best parks in the world, and has been described as "a green oasis at the heart of a concrete jungle".

The park has been managed for decades by the city of São Paulo, but the local government plans to concession all its parks' management to private hands, starting with Ibirapuera Park. Since 2014, the park also has the support of the Ibirapuera Park Conservancy (Parque Ibirapuera Conservação), a strong community nonprofit that supports park stewardship and conservation actions through a capital improvement plan, engagement projects and volunteer work. Admission to the park has been free since 1954, and it is open from 5am until midnight every day.^[1]

Large collection by renowned artists. The São Paulo Museum of Art is an art museum located on Paulista Avenue in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. It is well known for its headquarters, a 1968 concrete and glass structure designed by Lina Bo Bardi, whose main body is supported by two lateral beams over a 74 metres freestanding space, considered a landmark of the city and a main symbol of modern Brazilian architecture.

The museum is a non-profit institution founded in 1947 by Assis Chateaubriand and Pietro Maria Bardi. MASP distinguished itself for many important initiatives concerning museology and art education in Brazil, as well as for its pioneering role as a cultural center. It was also the first Brazilian museum interested in post-World War II art.

The museum is internationally recognized for its collection of European art, considered the finest in Latin America and all Southern Hemisphere. It also houses an emphatic assemblage of Brazilian art, prints and drawings, as well as smaller collections of African and Asian art, antiquities, decorative arts, and others, amounting to more than 8,000 pieces. MASP also has one of the largest art libraries in the country. The entire collection has been named by Brazil's Institute of History and Art to the Brazilian National Heritage list.^[3]

Market in São Paulo, Brazil. The Municipal Market of São Paulo is a large public market in São Paulo, Brazil. It was designed by the architect Francisco Ramos de Azevedo and inaugurated on January 25, 1933 as a wholesale and retail post specializing in fruits, vegetables, cereals, meats, spices and other food products. The market is located in the Mercado neighborhood, a name that references the market, in the historic center of São Paulo. It is located near the Tamanduateí River in the old Várzea do Carmo, a floodplain of the river now primarily used as Dom Pedro II Park. The market was formally named the Mercado Municipal São Paulo in 1995. It is commonly known in São Paulo as the Mercadão, or "big market", and a noted meeting point for resident São Paulo and one of the most visited tourist spots in the city.^[4]

Museum. The Museum of the Portuguese Language is an interactive Portuguese language—and Linguistics/Language Development in general—museum in São Paulo, Brazil. It is housed in the Estação da Luz railway station, in the urban district of the same name. Three hundred thousand passengers arrive and leave the station every day, and the choice of the building for the launching of the museum is connected to the fact that it was mainly here that thousands of non-Portuguese speaking immigrants arriving from Europe and Asia into São Paulo via the Port of Santos got acquainted with the language for the first time. The idea of a museum-monument to the language was conceived by the São Paulo Secretary of Culture in conjunction with the Roberto Marinho Foundation, at a cost of around 37 million reais.

The objective of the museum is to create a living representation of the Portuguese language, where visitors may be surprised and educated by unusual and unfamiliar aspects of their own native language. Secondly, the caretakers of the museum, as expressed on the official website, "desire that, in this museum, the public has access to new knowledge and reflection in an intense and pleasurable manner," as it notices the relationship of the language with others, as well as its proto-languages. The museum targets the Portuguese speaking population, made up of peoples from many regions and social backgrounds, but who still have not had the opportunity to gain a broader understanding of the origins, the history and the continuous evolution of the language.^[5]

Museum in São Paulo, Brazil. The Museu Paulista of the University of São Paulo is a Brazilian history museum located near where Emperor Pedro I proclaimed the Brazilian independence on the banks of Ipiranga brook in the Southeast region of the city of São Paulo, then the "Caminho do Mar," or road to the seashore. It contains a huge collection of furniture, documents and historically relevant artwork, especially relating to the Brazilian Empire era.

The most famous work of art in the collection is the 1888 painting Independência ou Morte (Independence or Death) by Pedro Américo.

A few months after the Brazilian Declaration of Independence, people started to suggest a monument on the site where the declaration took place, although they were not sure about what sort of memorial construction to build. In 1884, Italian architect Tommaso Gaudenzio Bezzi, who was hired to develop the project, chose to build an eclectic-styled construction similar to the French Palace of Versailles with impressive and perfectly manicured gardens and fountain.

The museum closed in August 2013 for extensive restoration and modernisation; it is due to re-open in 2022.^[6]

Sizable, popular zoo with tours and shows. The São Paulo Zoo is the largest zoo in Brazil. With 824,529 m2 of space in what was originally the Atlantic Forest, the zoo is south of the city of São Paulo.

It displays more than 3,200 animals, 102 species of mammals, 216 species of birds, 95 species of reptiles, 15 species of amphibians and 16 species of invertebrates in enclosures that replicate the natural habitats of these animals. The zoo's farm of 572 ha produces vegetables used in the manufacturing of feed for various animals, and material for the enclosures where the animals are. It also has animals that need extra space for mating.

The zoo has a nursery for cubs who are rejected by their mothers, electric incubators and an incubation room for eggs of birds and reptiles. The educational function is emphasized in the zoo. Its library of more than four thousand volumes is open to the public. Its partnerships with other state, federal and foreign institutions includes research that facilitates the preservation of endangered species.^[7]

Museum in São Paulo, Brazil. The Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil is a cultural organization of the Banco do Brasil based in Brazil with centers in Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, São Paulo and Belo Horizonte.

The CCBB began in 1986. It opened in Rio de Janeiro in 1989, Brasília in 2000, São Paulo in 2001 and Belo Horizonte in 2013. Its three centers in Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, and São Paulo are among the top hundred most visited art museums in the world. In 2013, the three centers combined had 4.4 million visitors: 2,034,397 visitors in Rio de Janeiro, 1,468,818 visitors in Brasília, and 931,639 visitors in São Paulo.

The largest of the CCBB institutions is located in Rio de Janeiro, in an Art Deco building designed by Francisco Joaquim Bethencourt da Silva.Similar in size is the São Paulo institution, designed in the same style by Hippolyto Pujol. The smallest of the three complexes is the Brasília branch, designed by Alba Rabelo Cunha.

Both the Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo branches contain theatres, cinemas, and multiple art galleries.^[8]

Monumental neo-gothic cathedral. The São Paulo Metropolitan Cathedral, also known as the See Cathedral, is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of São Paulo, Brazil. Its current and seventh Metropolitan Archbishop is Dom Odilo Pedro Cardinal Scherer, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI on March 21, 2007, and installed on April 29 of the same year. The existing cathedral's construction, in a Gothic revival style, began in 1913 and ended four decades later. It was ready for its dedication on the 400th anniversary of the foundation of the then humble villa of São Paulo by Chief or Cacique Tibiriçá and the Jesuit priests Manuel da Nóbrega and José de Anchieta. Despite its Renaissance-style dome, the São Paulo Metropolitan Cathedral is considered by some to be the fourth largest neo-Gothic cathedral in the world.^[9]

Stadium in São Paulo, Brazil. Allianz Parque, also known as Palestra Itália Arena, is a multipurpose stadium in São Paulo, Brazil, built to receive shows, concerts, corporate events, and especially football matches of Palmeiras, the site owner. The stadium has a capacity of 43,713 spectators.

The stadium has one of the most modern multipurpose spaces in the country, and its stadium meets all of FIFA's standards, accrediting it to receive the most relevant sports tournaments. With construction starting in 2010, and planning by Portuguese architect Tomás Taveira.

The new stadium was built by the company WTorre Properties/Arenas, belonging to WTorre Group, located on the same place of the old Palestra Itália Stadium, also popularly known as Parque Antárctica.^[10]

Vale do Anhangabaú is a region in the city center of São Paulo, located between the viaducts do Chá and Santa Ifigênia. It is a public space commonly characterized as park, where events have traditionally been organized, such as public demonstrations, political rallies, presentations and popular shows. It is considered the point that separates the Old City Center from the New City Center.

Currently, the 43 thousand square meters of the Anhangabaú Valley are used as a crossing point for people wishing to transit between the east and west regions of the Center, and can be defined as an extensive boardwalk under a road junction. The space also interconnects with other squares in the central area, such as Praça Ramos de Azevedo, juxtaposed with the Valley, Largo de São Bento, through the steps of the Metro and Praça da Bandeira, which currently houses a bus station.

With gardens, works of art and three fountains, Vale do Anhangabaú is today a postcard of the City Center of São Paulo, from where it is possible to glimpse buildings such as the Martinelli, Altino Arantes, Teatro Municipal, and the Matarazzo Building, headquarters of city hall. The space also acts as a stage for Virada Cultural, a traditional event in São Paulo that promotes shows and cultural activities throughout the city. Due to its wide dimension, the Valley is considered an adequate space for large public meetings and was even the stage for the largest Brazilian public rally, in the Diretas Já demonstrations, organized on April 16, 1984, when it was received about 1.5 million people. In addition to being in a region that houses all the places mentioned above, the Vale do Anhangabaú is also located near the Dramatic and Musical Conservatory of São Paulo, which is called the School of Dance of São Paulo, also known as the School of Dance of the Municipal Theater of São Paulo (EDTMSP). Basically, it is a university campus that concentrates classes on public dance in the city.^[16]

Skyscraper in São Paulo, Brazil. Edifício Praça da Bandeira, better known by its former name, Joelma Building, is a 25-story building in downtown São Paulo, Brazil, completed in 1971, located at Avenida 9 de Julho, 225. On 1 February 1974, an air conditioning unit on the twelfth floor overheated, starting a fire. There were 756 people in the building at the time. Because flammable materials had been used to furnish the interior, the entire building was engulfed in flames within 20 minutes. The fire was extinguished at 1:30pm, with 179 deaths and 300 people injured.

This happened less than two years after another deadly fire in downtown São Paulo, that of the Andraus Building. As of 2021, the Joelma fire remains the second-worst skyscraper fire ever in terms of the death toll, after the collapse of the twin World Trade Center towers in New York City on September 11, 2001.^[17]

Museum in São Paulo, Brazil. Museu Afro Brasil is a history, artistic and ethnographic museum dedicated to the research, preservation, and exhibition of objects and works related to the cultural sphere of black people in Brazil. It is a public institution held by the Secretariat for Culture of the São Paulo State and managed by the Museu Afro Brasil Association. The museum is located in Ibirapuera Park, a major urban park in São Paulo. The Manoel da Nóbrega Pavilion, designed by Oscar Niemeyer in 1959, houses the Museum. It holds around 6 thousands items and pieces including paintings, sculptures, photos, documents, and archives created between the 15th Century and the present day. The aggregation of pieces includes many works of the African and Afro-Brazilian cultural spheres, ranging from subjects and topics such as religion, labor, and art to the African Diaspora and slavery, whilst registering and affirming the historical trajectory and the African influences in the construction of the Brazilian society. The Museum also offers a diverse range of cultural and didactic activities, temporary expositions, and contains a theater and a specialized library.^[18]

Research institute in São Paulo, Brazil. Instituto Butantan is a Brazilian biologic research center located in Butantã, in the western part of the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Instituto Butantan is a public institution affiliated with the São Paulo State Secretariat of Health and considered one of the major scientific centers in the world. Butantan is the largest immunobiologicals and biopharmaceuticals producer in Latin America. It is world-renowned for its collection of venomous snakes, as well as those of venomous lizards, spiders, insects and scorpions. By extracting the reptiles' and insects' venoms, the Institute develops antivenoms and medicines against many diseases, which include tuberculosis, rabies, tetanus and diphtheria.^[22]

Museum and church where city was founded. Pátio do Colégio is the name given to the historical Jesuit church and school in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. The name is also used to refer to the square in front of the church. The Pátio do Colégio marks the site where the city was founded in 1554.

The city of São Paulo has its beginnings in a mission established by Jesuits Manuel da Nóbrega, José de Anchieta and others in the Brazilian hinterland. The village - then called São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga - was founded on a plateau between two rivers, the Tamanduateí and the Anhangabaú, and was linked to the coastal village of São Vicente by a precarious path in the rainforest.

The date that marks the beginning of São Paulo is January 25, 1554, when the priests celebrated the inaugural mass of the Jesuit school. Initially, the church building was a modest hut covered with palm leaves or straw. In 1556, under father Afonso Brás, new buildings of the school and church were finished using taipa de pilão (rammed earth), a more solid technique. These buildings would be the centre of spiritual and educational life in the settlement in the next couple of centuries.

Since its beginnings, the Jesuit action in evangelising the Amerinds clashed with the interests of many settlers, who used indigenous slave labour and profited from the indigenous slave trade. In the early São Paulo, the expeditions of the bandeirantes to the hinterland in order to capture Amerinds were an important economic activity, and the conflicts with the Jesuits led to the expulsion of the Order from the village in 1640. Only in 1653, bandeirante Fernão Dias Pais Leme allowed the return of the Jesuit priests. The church and school were extensively rebuilt around 1653.

In 1759, with the Suppression of the Society of Jesus in Portugal and its colonies ordered by the Marquis of Pombal, the fathers had to leave again. The Jesuit buildings now housed the colonial governors of São Paulo, and they continued to serve administrative functions after the Independence of Brazil and well into the 20th century. The colonial structures were completely rebuilt in different styles, and in 1896 the church collapsed. The tower survived but was greatly modified.

In 1953, during the celebrations of the city's 400th anniversary, the area was given back to the Jesuit order. Thanks to their relative simple architecture and the abundance of 19th-century iconography, the church was rebuilt and the tower and the school façade were given back their colonial look. The church and tower, in particular, have the sober Mannerist style they had in the 17th century, typical of Jesuit churches of colonial Brazil.^[27]

Museum in São Paulo, Brazil. The Museum of Sacred Art of São Paulo a museum dedicated to the collection and display of sacred art of Brazil. It is located in the Luz neighborhood of São Paulo in the left wing of the Luz Monastery, a religious institution founded in 1774 by Frei Galvão. The monastery is the only colonial building of the eighteenth century in São Paulo to preserve its original building elements, materials and structure. The monastery was listed as an architectural monument of national importance in 1943 by the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage and subsequently by the State of São Paulo Council for the Defense of the Historical, Archaeological, Artistic and Touristic Heritage.

The museum was founded in 1970 and is maintained jointly by the State Government of São Paulo and the Archdiocese of São Paulo. The collection includes Brazilian and foreign works sacred works dating from the sixteenth century, and includes works by noted artists such as Aleijadinho, Agostinho da Piedade, Agostinho de Jesus, Valentim da Fonseca e Silva, Manoel da Costa Ataíde, José Ferraz de Almeida Júnior, and Benedito Calixto.^[32]