Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
holidays you can take the
Trem do Imigrante
, a wonderful little nineteenth-century
steam train, from Brás or Moóca
metrô
stations (
T
11 2695 1151,
W
abpfsp.com.br;
R$10 per ride).
Luz
he once a
uent and still leafy
bairro
of Luz, home to both of São Paulo's main train
stations, has for many years been one of the city's seediest red-light districts. Recently,
though, Luz has slowly been undergoing a renaissance, with city and state government
investment aimed at transforming the area into a top-rank cultural centre.
Ascending from Luz
metrô
, you'll immediately notice the imposing
Estação da Luz
.
The station was part of the British-owned rail network that contributed to São
Paulo's explosive growth in the late nineteenth century. The station was built in
1901 and everything was imported from Britain for its construction - from the
design of the project to the smallest of screws. Although fire destroyed the refined
decoration of its chambers in 1946, interior details (iron balconies, passageways
and grilles) bear witness to the majestic structure's original elegance. Until the
1940s there was a sizeable British community in the area; some of the engineers
and their families were housed in the
Vila Inglesa
at Rua Mauá 836, a group of
28 distinctively English-style houses built in 1924 which have long since been
used as shops, o
ces and restaurants.
Museu da Língua Portugesa
Praça da Luz • Wed-Sun 10am-6pm, Tues 10am-10pm; last ticket sold an hour before closing • R$6 •
T
11 3322 0080,
W
museulinguaportuguesa.org.br •
M
Luz
The upper floors of the
Estação da Luz
have been transformed to house the
Museu
da Língua Portugesa
, a celebration of the Portuguese language. Opened in 2006, the
museum charts the development of the language and explores its global variations
through the display of written texts, spoken word, song and images. There are also
temporary exhibitions examining individual writers such as Brazil's Machado de Assis
and Clarice Lispector, and Portugal's Fernando Pessoa.
8
Parque da Luz
Praça da Luz • Tues-Sun 9am-6pm • Free •
M
Luz
Located directly across Rua Mauá from the Estação da Luz is
Parque da Luz
. Dating
back to 1800, the park was São Paulo's first public garden, and its intricate wrought-
iron fencing, Victorian bandstands, ponds and rich foliage attest to its prominent past.
Until recently, the park was considered off limits, but security is now excellent and, as
one of the few centrally located patches of greenery in the city, it is popular with local
residents and visitors to the surrounding cultural centres. The space includes large
display panels (in English and Portuguese) on the history of the Luz district and has
been developed as a sculpture park.
Pinacoteca do Estado
Praça da Luz 2 • Tues, Wed & Fri-Sun 10am-6pm, Thurs 10am-10pm • R$6; Thurs, Sat & Sun free •
T
11 3335 4990,
W
pinacoteca.org.br •
M
Luz
he
Pinacoteca do Estado
is São Paulo's state art gallery. It is housed in an imposing
Neoclassical building by the Parque da Luz that was constructed in 1905 and
thoroughly renovated in 1998. The gallery is one of the finest in Brazil and has an
excellent permanent collection of Brazilian paintings. Pride of place in the nineteenth-
century galleries goes to images of rural São Paulo by Almeida Júnior, but the work of
other Brazilian landscape, portrait and historical artists of the period is also well
represented. The twentieth-century galleries include Cubist-influenced engravings;
important paintings by the European expressionist turned Brazilian modernist Lasar
Segall (see also p.502); and works by other painters, including Emiliano di Cavalcanti,
