Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Contemporânea do Paraná
showcases the work of local and Brazilian contemporary
artists in a variety of media through changing exhibitions. The museum owns around
1500 works: quality varies, but aficionados will appreciate the work of Argentine artist
Tomás Abal, respected Modernist Alfredo Volpi, leading neo-constructivist sculptor
Amílcar de Castro, experimental artist José Bechara and the often bizarre work of
multimedia artist and poet Alex Flemming. The list of actual
paranaense
painters is
quite small, but includes Miguel Bakun, Theodoro De Bona and Guido Viaro.
9
Museu Ferroviário
Praça Eufrásio Correia (Av Sete de Setembro) • Tues-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 11am-7pm • Free •
T
41 3094 534,
W
shoppingestacao.com •
Linha Turismo stop #4
Of obvious interest to rail buffs, the
Museu Ferroviário
contains relics from Paraná's
now long-gone railway era. The building housing the museum was the original 1885
terminus of the Curitiba-Paranaguá line. Plenty of people are also drawn to the
Estação Shopping
mall next door.
Praça Tiradentes and around
Catedral Metropolitana: Daily 6am-7pm • Free • Linha Turismo stop #1
Always busy and slightly worn around the edges,
Praça Tiradentes
remains the traditional
heart of the city, envigorated in the spring by the bright yellow blossoms of its
ipê
trees.
The plaza is the terminus of the Linha Turismo bus (see p.551), and is also the home of the
twin-towered
Catedral Metropolitana
(more formally Nossa Senhora da Luz dos Pinhais de
Curitiba - there's a revered statue of this incarnation of Mary inside). Inaugurated in 1893,
its unremarkable Neogothic facade gives way to an ornate, richly decorated interior - look
for Pope John Paul II's chair, preserved shrine-like to the right of the entrance.
Paço de Libertade
Praça Tiradentes • Tues-Fri 10am-9pm, Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 11am-5pm • Free •
T
41 3234 4200
To the southeast, Praça Tiradentes blends into Praça José Borges - notable as the home
of a small
flower market
(daily 9am-6pm) - and further along the
Paço de Libertade
(the former city hall) on Praça Generoso Marques, a magnificent Art Nouveau
construction built in 1916 and converted into a cultural centre.
Largo da Ordem and around
A pedestrian tunnel leads from Praça Tiradentes to Curitiba's
centro histórico
,
beginning with the small plaza known as
Largo da Ordem
and leading to the adjoining
Praça Garibaldi
via pedestrianized Claudino dos Santos, an area of charming
eighteenth- and nineteenth-century architecture, bars and cafés.
Casa Romário Martins
Largo da Ordem • Tues-Fri 9am-noon & 1-6pm, Sat & Sun 9am-2pm • Free •
T
41 3321 3255
The early nineteenth-century
Casa Romário Martins
, on Largo da Ordem itself, is
Curitiba's oldest-surviving house, and now home to a small exhibition area with
revolving displays on local history and art.
Igreja da Ordem Terceira de São Francisco das Chagas
Largo da Ordem • Museum: Tues-Fri 9am-noon & 1-6pm, Sat & Sun 9am-3pm • Free •
T
41 3321 3265
Dating from 1737 (but rebuilt with a bell tower in the 1880s), the
Igreja da Ordem
Terceira de São Francisco das Chagas
is the city's oldest-surviving building. Plain
outside, the church is also simple within, its only decoration being some tiny examples
of Portuguese blue-and-white tiling and late Baroque altars. Next door a separate
entrance leads to the mildly interesting
Museu de Arte Sacra
, with relics such as
statuary, calvaries, vestments and chalices gathered from Curitiba's Roman Catholic
churches going back to the seventeenth century.
