Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Museu da Imigração Japonesa
Rua São Joaquim 381 (7th, 8th & 9th floors) • Tues-Sun 1.30-5.30pm • R$6 •
T
11 3209 5465,
W
www.museubunkyo.org.br •
M
São Joaquim
he
Museu da Imigração Japonesa
has a Japanese-style rooftop garden and excellent
displays honouring the Japanese community in Brazil, from their arrival in 1908 to
work on the coffee plantations to their transition to farming and their varied
contributions to modern Brazil.
Templo Busshinji
Rua São Joaquim 285 • Daily 10am-2.30pm •
Free •
T
11 3208 4515 •
M
São Joaquim
Slightly incongruous among the drab-looking of
ce and apartment buildings of
Libertade's Rua São Joaquim is the instantly recognizable
Templo Busshinji
, a Japanese
Buddhist temple built in 1995; visitors are welcome to look around the wooden
building and attend meditation sessions.
Higienópolis and around
When, at the end of the nineteenth century, the coffee barons vacated downtown São
Paulo, they moved a short distance to the west to new homes in a hilly part of the city
named
Higienópolis
, so called because it was supposedly more hygienic than the spit
'n' sawdust Praça da República. While the city centre's mansions have long gone, a few
still remain in Higienópolis. Completed in 1902, the Art Nouveau-influenced
Vila
Penteado
, at Rua Maranhão 88 (at the intersection of Rua Sabará), is one of the finest
examples and was one of the last to be built in the area; the building now forms part of
the University of São Paulo's architecture faculty and visitors can enter the impressive
marble-lined lobby.
No sooner had the coffee barons established themselves here, they abandoned
the area, replaced by families who had become rich from the business boom of the
twentieth century. Higienópolis remains very wealthy, with attractive tree-lined roads,
pleasant parks and large houses and luxury apartment buildings, so very different
from the chaos of the city centre just a few blocks away. A high proportion of today's
residents are Jewish, and there are several synagogues and Jewish community schools
in the neighbourhood.
8
Estádio do Pacaembu
Praça Charles Miller, Pacaembu • See website for matches and ticket prices •
W
corinthians.com.br •
M
Paulista
Higienópolis merges to the west into
Pacaembu
, best known for the
Estádio do
Pacaembu
, the city-owned stadium where the Corinthians football team used to play
its home matches (see also p.517). It's located in Praça Charles Miller (named after the
Anglo-Brazilian credited with introducing the modern game of football to Brazil), and
was designed by Lúcio Costa (best known for his work on Brasília), opening in 1940
with a capacity of 60,000, although 72,000 have been squeezed in. With subsequent
modernization, including the introduction of seating, the stadium can manage a crowd
of 38,000 nowadays. So far as Corinthians are concerned, Pacaembu has now been
superseded by the all new, 48,000-capacity Arena Corinthians, located on the eastern
edge of town in Itaquera (at the end of
metrô
line 3). Built for the 2014 World Cup,
the new stadium then became the club's regular home ground.
Museu do Futebol
Estádio do Pacaembu, Praça Charles Miller, Pacaembu • Tues-Sat 9am-6pm; last entrance 5pm; closed match days • R$6 •
T
11 3664 3848,
W
museudofutebol.org.br •
M
Paulista
Unless attending a match (generally held on Wed & Sat), the best way to see the
stadium is to visit the
Museu do Futebol
. Opened in 2008, this is certainly one of
São Paulo's best museums and, surprisingly, the only one in the country devoted to
