Brazil - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 343

European design. The Igreja da Ordem ,
on Largo da Ordem, dates from 1737
and is the city's oldest surviving building,
dominating the historic quarter. Plain
outside, the church is also simple within,
the only decoration being typically
Portuguese blue and white tiling and late
Baroque altar and side chapels. The
church contains the Museu de Arte Sacra
(Tues-Fri 9am-noon & 1-6pm, Sat &
Sun 9am-3pm; free), with relics gathered
from Curitiba's churches. Opposite is the
mid-eighteenth-century Casa Romário
Martins , Curitiba's oldest surviving house,
now the site of a cultural foundation and
exhibition centre for regional artists.
A short distance uphill from here, on
the same road, is the Igreja Nossa
Senhora do Rosário , built by and for
Curitiba's slave population in 1737,
though it was completely reconstructed
in the 1930s. The Museu Paranaense ,
nearby on Rua Kellers 289 (Tues-Fri
9am-6pm, Sat & Sun 10am-4pm; free),
contains paintings by twentieth-century
Paranaense artists as well as arts and crafts
made by the region's first indigenous
population. Some of the antiquities on
show date back 10,000 years.

West of the rodoferroviária along
Avenida Sete de Setembro is the city's
converted former railway station, now the
Shopping Estação , an atmospheric mall
incorporating the small Museu Ferroviário
(Tues-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 11am-7pm;
free), which houses relics from Paraná's
railway era as well as temporary exhibits.
Finally, it's worth a trip out to Curitiba's
most popular attraction, the Torre
Panorâmica (Tues-Sun 10am-7pm;
R$3.50) on Rua Prof. Lycio Grein de
Castro Vellozo, the only telephone tower
in Brazil with an observation deck
(109m), offering sensational views across
the city.
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION
By plane The ultramodern Aeroporto Internacional
Afonso Pena ( T 41 3381 1153) is about 18km from the city
centre. Taxis from the airport to the centre (30min) charge
about R$55. Regular city buses (“Aeroporto”) trundle
between the Centro Civico and the airport every 20-30min
(6am-11pm; R$2.60); there is also a faster shuttle (every
15-20min; R$10; W aeroportoexecutivo.com.br). The
shuttles stop at the rodoferroviária , at Rua Visconde de
Nacar in front of the old Rua 24 Horas (name of the stop),
and Shopping Estação.
Destinations Frequent flights to all major cities in Brazil
- including Florianópolis, Foz do Iguaçu, Porto Alegre and
São Paulo - and international flights to Paraguay and
Argentina.
By bus The main bus station ( T 41 3320 3232) - the
rodoferroviária - is southeast of town, about ten blocks
from the city centre on Av Pres. Affonso Camargo.
Destinations Camboriú (22 daily; 2hr 30min); Florianópolis
(23 daily; 4-5hr); Foz do Iguaçu (9 daily; 10hr); Paranaguá
(hourly; 1hr 30min); Porto Alegre (8 daily; 12-13hr); Rio de
Janeiro (4-5 daily; 13hr); São Paulo (hourly; 6-7hr).
By train The train station ( T 041 3888 3488) is next to
the bus station in the southeast of town. The only
passenger train from Curitiba is the Serra Verde Express
(see box, p.349), which runs to Morretes and Paranaguá.
Tourist information There's a year-round tourist
information booth at the rodoferroviária (daily 8am-6pm;
T 41 3320 3121, W viaje.curitiba.pr.gov.br).

3

Modern Curitiba
Some of Curitiba's most unusual and
impressive attractions are more contem-
porary. Among the largest museums in
Latin America is the futuristic Museu
Oscar Niemeyer (Tues-Sun 10am-6pm;
R$4; W museuoscarniemeyer.org.br),
about 3km to the north of Curitiba's old
town, on Rua Marechal Hermes.
Designed by the Brazilian architect after
whom it was named, the building's most
notable feature resembles a giant eye. The
galleries inside house primarily modernist
art, including works by paranaenses
Alfredo Andersen, Theodoro de Bona and
Miguel Bakun, and many by Niemeyer
himself, best known for designing much
of Brasília (see p.317).
You could also head out to the Jardím
Botânico (daily 6am-8pm; free) on the
eastern edge of town at Rua Ostoja
Roguski. Packed with native plants,
it centres on an immense greenhouse ,
adopted as one of the symbols of the city.

GETTING AROUND
Curitiba's centre is small enough to be able to walk to most
places within the city centre.
By bus City buses ( W urbs.curitiba.pr.gov.br) stop at the
strange glass boarding tubes you see dotted around town.
Pay at the turnstile on entering the tube, not on the bus
(R$2.50).