Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
9
eco-friendly design is a model that many urban planners try to emulate. The small
centro histórico
(the area around Largo da Ordem and Praça Garibaldi) withstanding,
it's not an especially attractive city, but there's a real big-city buzz and Curitiba remains
relatively safe and almost Northern Europe-like in its e
ciency - an intriguing
alternative Brazil to all points north. The only real showstopper is the jaw-dropping
Museu Oscar Niemeyer
, but the
centro histórico
is also worth a wander, and you could
easily spend an enjoyable day touring the diverse parks and attractions in the city's
outskirts via the convenient
Linha Turismo
bus service.
Brief history
Founded by the Portuguese in 1693, Curitiba was of little importance until 1853 when
it was made capital of the newly created state of Paraná. Since then, the city's population
has grown steadily from a few thousand to 1.8 million, its inhabitants largely descend-
ants of Polish, German, Italian, Ukrainian and other immigrants. There are
favelas
, but
they're well hidden, and, because of the cool, damp winters, they appear sturdier than
those in cities to the north. Ironically, as the city has got richer it's been unable to
contain urban problems entirely; gra
ti (not street art, just plain old tagging) is,
inexplicably, a major blight in the old centre, and homelessness is also an issue.
Rua das Flores and around
Rua 24 Horas: Daily 9am-10pm • Free •
W
rua24horascuritiba.com.br • Linha Turismo stop #2 (Rua 24 Horas is stop #3)
he
Rua das Flores
- a pedestrianized section of the
Rua XV de Novembro
, lined
with carefully restored, pastel-coloured early twentieth-century buildings - is central
Curitiba's main late-afternoon and early-evening meeting point, when its bars,
tearooms and coffee shops are crammed with customers. Just off leafy
Praça General
Osório
, at the far end of Rua das Flores, there's a small shopping arcade, the
Rua 24
Horas
, an attempt by city planners to keep the centre of Curitiba alive outside of of
ce
hours, though it's not open around the clock as its name suggests.
Museu de Arte Contemporânea do Paraná
Rua Westphalen 16 • Tues-Fri 10am-7pm, Sat & Sun 10am-4pm • Free •
T
41 3323 5328,
W
mac.pr.gov.br • Linha Turismo stop #2
Housed in the old Department of Public Health building (a striking pink confection
amid all the concrete high-rises, which was completed in 1928), the
Museu de Arte
Parque Pedreira
Paulo Leminski
Ópera de
Arame
Parque São
Lourenço
GREATER CURITIBA
ACCOMMODATION
Pousada Betânia
1
0
1
O
T
kilometre
Bosque
Zaninelli
Parque
Tingui
Universidade
Livre do Meio
Ambiente
São José
Memorial da
Imigração
Ucraniana
Curitiba
Airport
SANTA
FELICIDADE
Bosque
Alemão
Memorial da Imigração Polonesa
Museu Oscar Niemeyer
Bosque
João Paulo II
U
E
O
E
B
Cemitério
Parque Iguaçu -
Cascatinha
SEE 'CENTRAL CURITIBA' MAP
N
Bosque de
Portugal
Estádio
Couto Pereira
(Cortiba)
E N I
N
N
Torre
Panorâmica
Parque
Barigui
CAFÉ & RESTAURANT
Kawiarnia Kwakowiak
Velho Madalosso
2
1
BAR & LIVE MUSIC VENUE
Boteco Santi
Realejo Culinária Acústica
BATEL
Museu
Botânico
1
2
Jardim
Botânico
Estádio Joaquim Américo
