São Paulo Sights

  1. Auditório Ibirapuera

    The Auditório Ibirapuera is another Niemeyer design. Nicknamed 'a língua' ('the tongue') for the bright-red metal awning that sticks out rather lewdly from an otherwise bunkerlike concrete trapezoid, the hall hosts a wide variety of musical styles, from classical to experimental. Concert bookings can be made through Ticketmaster Brasil (6846 6000).

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  2. Avenida Brigadeiro Faria Lima

    Extra-wide Avenida Brigadeiro Faria Lima (called just 'Faria Lima') marks the southwestern edge of the Jardins neighborhoods, and is the main corridor connecting Pinheiros with the ritzy neighborhoods of Morumbi, Vila Olímpia, Itaim Bibi and Moema. These areas are largely congested streets, forbidding luxury high-rises and glittering complexes that house the majority of the city's most-profitable businesses, from banking to technology.

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  3. Avenida Ipiranga

    For Caetano Veloso fans, a visit to the corner of Avenida Ipiranga and Avenida São João, which features in his beloved song 'Sampa,' is mandatory. There are no sights to speak of, but the bustling intersection does a good job of summing up the city.

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  4. Avenida São Luís

    Praça da República is an always-lively square a few blocks northwest of Anhangabaú that turns into an open-air market on Sundays, specializing in crafts, paintings, coins and gemstones. The area north of the square has become popular with the gay community , while to the south lies a nest of business hotels, huge office buildings and, especially along Avenida São Luís, what were once some of the city's most prestigious apartment buildings.

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  5. Banespa

    For one of Sampa's best panoramas, head to the top of Banespa, Brazil's version of the Empire State Building, completed in 1939. Ride free to the observation deck on the top floor for views of the city. Note, you will need some form of ID to sign in.

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  7. Banespa skyscraper

    For one of Sampa's best panoramas, head to the top of the Banespa skyscraper, Brazil's version of the Empire State Building, completed in 1939. Ride free to the observation deck on the top floor for views of the city. Note, you will need some form of ID to sign in.

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  8. Bosque da Leitura

    A meandering duck pond takes up much of the western half of Parque do Ibirapuera, and around it are arranged a series of shaded walks, including the Bosque da Leitura - a woodsy section that on Sundays turns into an open-air library where you can check out books for the afternoon.

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  9. BOVESPA

    Even if Av Paulista and Vila Olímpia now attract the big money, the Triângulo still does a brisk trade, thanks largely to presence of BOVESPA , Latin America's largest stock exchange.

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  10. Centro Brasileiro de Estudos Latino Americano

    Centro Brasileiro de Estudos Latino Americano (CBEAL) is a cultural and research foundation, housed in the Memorial da América Latina complex. It includes an auditorium that stages free concerts, and various interesting handicraft exhibits from regional Brazil and other Latin American countries. Cândido Portinari's painting Tiradentes hangs in the Salão de Atos, and huge panels by Carybé and Poty Lazzarotto represent the people of South America.

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  11. Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil

    Housed in an extraordinarily and lovingly restored Beaux Arts building, the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil holds innovative exhibitions of contemporary art as well as excellent film series and theatre performances.

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  13. College of Law

    Next to Igreja de São Francisco de Assis is the prestigious College of Law. Founded in 1827 it is Brazil's oldest institution of higher learning, though the current building dates to the early 20th century.

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  14. Edifício Copan

    The remarkable Edifício Copan's serpentine façade and narrow brises-soleil have become a symbol of the city. Modernist master Oscar Niemeyer designed the building to bring together all classes by including sprawling apartments for the rich as well as tiny studios for the working poor. You can visit its snaking, sloping ground-floor shopping arcade, but the private apartments on the upper floors are off-limits.

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  15. Edifício Itália

    With 46 stories, this skyscraper just south of Praça da República is the tallest in the city center. Its top-floor restaurant offers some of the best, most sweeping views of São Paulo, though prices are high and the food nothing flash. Strictly speaking, you're supposed to be a customer to go there; if you're not, act like one!

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  16. Edifício Itália skyscraper

    With 46 stories, the Edifício Itália skyscraper, just south of the Praça da República, and near Av São Luís, is the tallest in the city centre. Its top-floor restaurant offers some of the best views of São Paulo, though meal prices are high and the food only passable. Strictly speaking, you're supposed to be a customer to go there; if you're not, act like one.

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  17. Edifício Martinelli

    Just west of BOVESPA rises the 35-story Edifício Martinelli, São Paulo's first skyscraper. The soaring 1929 Beaux Arts structure seems to have been imported wholesale from turn-of-the-20th-century Manhattan. The building doesn't accept visitors.

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  19. Estação da Luz

    Across the street from the park sits Estação da Luz, a classic late-Victorian train station constructed with materials entirely shipped in from Britain and completed in 1901. It too has been returned to its original splendor. It services São Paulo's extensive suburban lines, with a long tunnel linking it to the Luz metro station.

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  20. Estação Júlio Prestes

    A short walk west of Estação da Luz is the grand Estação Júlio Prestes in turn-of-the-century Beaux Arts style, though only completed in the 1930s.

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  21. Estação Pinacoteca

    A short walk west of Estação da Luz is Estação Júlio Prestes, a large and grand train station in turn-of-the-century Beaux Arts style (though it was only completed in the 1930s). One wing houses the Estação Pinacoteca, an annex of the Pinacoteca do Estado, which hosts large and often very good temporary exhibitions, mostly of Brazilian art.

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  22. Fundação Maria Luisa e Oscar Americano

    Fundação Maria Luisa e Oscar Americano, home of the couple who developed the leafy, upscale suburb of Morumbi, this house turned museum makes a fine retreat as much for its gardens as for its collection of painting, sculpture and objets d'art from the 18th to 20th centuries. The 1950s house is a small masterpiece of Brazilian modernism and there's a lovely café that serves traditional high tea.

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  23. Igreja de Santo Antônio

    On the small Praça do Patriarca at the southwestern entrance to Triângulo, Igreja de Santo Antônio retains much of its original 18th-century contours.

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  25. Igreja de São Francisco de Assis

    Igreja de São Francisco de Assis just west of the cathedral is one the best-preserved colonial structures in the city. Built in the 17th and 18th centuries, it is a classic example of Portuguese baroque. At the time of writing the church was closed for a major restoration.

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  26. Igreja do Carmo

    On the other side of Praça da Sé stands the more modest but also more authentic Igreja do Carmo, which dates to the 1630s and still preserves its original high altar. At writing it was closed for major restoration.

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  27. Instituto Butantan

    One of the city's most popular attractions - at least among non-ophidophobes - this institute is internationally respected for its ground-breaking biomedical research. However, the biggest draw is its venom farm - researchers milk some 1000 snakes of their poison, which is then used to make antidotes to snake and spider bites, as well as in research for other medicines.

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  28. Instituto Tomie Ohtake

    The Instituto Tomie Ohtake , is a cultural institute founded by Ruy Ohtake, São Paulo's most prominent contemporary architect. The building itself is a curving, colorful affair, perhaps not to all tastes but certainly striking. Inside, an attractive gallery space features changing exhibits of prominent, mostly local artists.

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  29. Jardim Botánico

    The northern tip of Parque do Estado is given over to the Jardim Botánico, a well-tended botanical garden that includes a promenade of imperial palms, an orchid farm, picturesque ponds, a stand of brazilwood trees and a herb garden where you are encouraged to smell the aromatic flowers and leaves.

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