Tourist Office
Centro Britânico - São Paulo, Brazil

São Paulo
Teacher Vera Azevedo

(click on a photo below to open it in a new window)

1) MUSEU DO IPIRANGA – Ipiranga Museum
(Progress 1 – 4:50 p.m. – m/w – Perdizes Branch)

It’s the oldest museum in USP - Universidade de São Paulo (University of São Paulo), opened in 1995, and incorporated to USP in 1963.
This museum has about 10 000 pieces. There are libraries with 100 000 books, a center of historical documents, conservation and restoration.

2) CATEDRAL METROPOLITANA – Metropolitan Cathedral
(Progress 1 – 2 p.m. – m/w - Perdizes Branch)

It’s São Paulo’s largest church, located in Praça da Sé (Sé Square), with 111 m lenght, 46 m width, two towers 92 m height each, 30m height vault and capacity for 800 people.

Praça da Sé was created when the city has just been built. In 1911 and 1912, the churches São Pedro and Sé were destroyed to increase the size of the square in 5 times. In 1934, Praça da Sé was crowned the initial mark of the city. Nowadays, Praça da Sé is a place, where around 1,5 million people pass everyday. It was inhabited by Brazilian and foreign people such as Italians, Portugueses, Sirius and Germans.

3) ESTAÇÃO DA LUZ – Luz Railway Station
(Starter 4 – 3:30 p.m. – m/w - Perdizes Branch)

It was opened to the public in 1901. Its facilities take up an area of 7 500 m2 in “Jardim da Luz” and it was built by São Paulo Railway Company with structures brought from England that copy the Big Ben and the Westminster Abbey. Estação da Luz is one of the major proofs of the importance and development brought by the coffee crop not only to São Paulo but also to the state as a whole – It was necessary to transport the product from Jundiaí to the harbor of Santos, reason why the railway network was enlarged.

4) PRAÇA BUENOS AIRES – Buenos Aires Square
(Progress 1 – 2 p.m. – m/w - Perdizes Branch)

With 25 000 m2 it was built in 1912. Near Angélica Avenue, the place belonged to Germaine Lucie Buchard, daughter of one of the neighborhood’s founders. With gardens, sculptures, small lakes, the project was made by Joseph Bouvard. The beautiful square, called Buenos Aires, became a nice place to take the little children to play, the dogs for a walk, and for people interested in jogging.

5) FUN & ENTERTAINMENT
(Teens 2 – 3:30 p.m. – t/t - Pompéia Branch & Starter 3 – 8:30 a.m. – t/t - Vila Madalena Branch)

There are many nice places for you to have some fun! “Parque da Mônica”, “O Mundo da Xuxa” and “Playcenter” are good amusement parks for children and teens.
For adults, theaters, movies, restaurants, and bars. There are many nice bars and picturesque shops in Vila Madalena neighborhood, where one of our schools, Centro Britânico, is located.

5.1) PLAYCENTER

Playcenter is the first amusement park in Brazil. A great variety of attractions for visitors of all ages! It was opened in July 1973, in a 50 000m2 area. In 1988, they created “Noites do terror” (Horror Nights). You go to the park and you can stay there ‘till midnight! There are monsters, vampires, and zombies to scare you all around! It’s cool! There is a special day for the physically and mentally disabled people. Around 5 000 disabled visitors come to the park.

6) ZOOLÓGICO DE SÃO PAULO – São Paulo’s Zoo
(Teens 2 – 3:30 p.m. – t/t - Pompéia Branch)

The Zoológico de São Paulo exists for more than 47 years. It has thousands of exotic and native animals. Nowadays, there are 4 000 animals in the zoo. It has already been visited by more than 70 million people.

7) PROJETO POMAR – Orchard Project
(Starter 2 – 5 p.m. – t/t - Pompéia Branch)

Ten thousand trees and bushes have been planted along Pinheiros River. The aims: To recover the river and plant native urban species of plants. Big companies got interested in the project thus they’re sponsoring it.

8) AVENIDA PAULISTA – Paulista Avenue
(Progress 2 – 2 p.m. – t/t - Pompéia Branch)

When Avenida Paulista was created and donated to the city by the uruguayan engineer Joaquim Eugênio de Lima in the end of the 19th century, there were around 100 thousand inhabitants in São Paulo. The avenue was built to be compared to the European avenues: large and modern.
Avenida Paulista is 28m width and 2 800m lenght, and its centenary was celebrated on December 8th 1991. On Avenida Paulista there are 76 banks, 65 bars, 9 consulates and 8 800 residents.

9) JARDIM BOTÂNICO DE SÃO PAULO – São Paulo’s Botanical Garden
(Progress 2 – 2 p.m. – t/t - Pompéia Branch)

Jardim Botânico de São Paulo offers 360 000m2 of green areas serving as a large observatory to learn more about botanical collection of native and exotic plants.

10) TEATRO MUNICIPAL DE SÃO PAULO – São Paulo’s Municipal Theatre
(Progress 2 – 2 p.m. – t/t - Pompéia Branch)

The construction of Teatro Municipal began in June 1903 and was concluded in August 1911. The house was opened in September of the same year, one day after the planned date, with the “Hamlet” opera.
The project was created by the Italian architects Domiziano Rossi and Claudio Rossi. The decoration of the building was left in the cenographer Claudio Rossi’s hands, who supervisioned the creation of master pieces in Europe, and did their boarding to Brazil.
In the second reform (from February 1985 to July 1988) the inside part of the theater was restored, and the façade, exactly how they were presented in the initial drawings.

11) LIBERDADE
(Starter 2 – 5 p.m. – t/t - Pompéia Branch)

The famous oriental district of São Paulo city has already been a stage set of strong fights in the capital history. The name Liberdade comes from the time of slavery abolishment. It means “freedom”, in Portuguese. At the beginning of the 20th century, a complete change in the appearence of this district started. In 1908, June 18th, the ship Kasato-Maru arrived at Santos Harbor, bringing the first 782 Japanese immigrants to Brazil. They left Kobe Harbor in April 28th “to be successful in America”. That meant, to cultivate coffee in São Paulo countryside. The development was unavoidable and as the years went by, the district has acquired oriental characteristics. And as well as the Japanese people, other asiatic people, like Chinese and Korean, came to Brazil. Today, Liberdade district is one of the most famous tour attractions in São Paulo city, with its adorned and coloured streets, diverse and attractive commerce and special charm.

12) RUA 25 DE MARÇO – 25 de Março Street
(Progress 2 – 2 p.m. – t/t - Pompéia Branch)

The first products sold on Rua 25 de Março were Japanese and Chinese porcelains, german cutlery, French and Swiss laces, English cashemere and other imported products. Nowadays, there are many Korean shops. Everything’s cheap there!

Groups and students:

Progress 2 – 2 p.m. – t/t - Pompéia Branch

Aline Leonardi
Caio Ciongoli
Guilherme Amaral
Luana Michelucci
Murilo Dias

Teens 2 – 3:30 p.m. – t/t - Pompéia Branch

André Vieira
Flávia Fratin
Laura Coutinho
Luisa Nader
Nikolas Scuro
Thais Micheli

Starter 2 – 5 p.m. – t/t - Pompéia Branch

Aline Leite e Sousa
Ana Gabriela Reis
Bruno Laurino
Bruno Vigário
Camila Boccia
Débora Orlando
Henrique Aguiar
Henrique Reis
Isabela Pinho
Mariana Jacinto
Monise Pikunas
Patrícia Baba
Rodrigo Lima
Thiago Paolucci

Progress 1 – 2 p.m. – m/w - Perdizes Branch

Amanda Sabadell
Bernardo Barboza
Camila Spina
Débora Pessanha
Felipe Gonçalves
Fernando Bombonatti
Giovanna Sarlo
Kauan Ramalho
Simone Amancio

Starter 4 – 3:30 p.m. – m/w - Perdizes Branch

Gabriela Oliveira
Giuliana Bello
Leonardo da Cruz
Marcella Gomes
Marcelo Ferraro
Matheus Campos
Pedro Furtado
Rafael Ferrari
Rafael Mignoni
Renato Meisel

Progress 1 – 4:50 p.m. – m/w - Perdizes Branch

Ana Carolina Costa
Amanda Fernandes
Julia Cassini
Marina Coelho

Starter 3 – 8:30 a.m. – t/t – Vila Madalena Branch

Alana Claro
Giuliana Passarelli
Paula Tanaka