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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Mercado Muncipal
The recently refurbished Mercado Muncipal is a Belle Epoque confection of stained glass and a series of vast domes. Inside is a humble but delightful market specializing in fresh produce and dried goods. It's also a great place to sample a classic Sampa delight: pasteis, pockets of dough stuffed with meat, cheese or fish and then fried.
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Monumento Bandeiras
At the north entrance of Parque do Ibirapuera, stands Victor Brecheret's huge Monumento Bandeiras, erected in 1953 in memory of the city's early pioneers.
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Páteo do Colégio
Just up the street from Solar da Marquesa lies Páteo do Colégio that occupies the exact spot where São Paulo was founded in 1554 by Jesuit brothers José de Anchieta and Manoel da Nóbregra. The current structure is actually a 1950s replica of the monastery that once stood here, although inside it does possess a nice little collection of original relics from the city's first days. The museum's café also makes for a tranquil pit stop.
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Praça da Liberdade
Praça da Liberdade is the neighborhood's main square and also the location of its metro stop. It hosts an open-air market on Sundays. A short walk south on Rua Galvão Bueno takes you past many Asian shops and restaurants as well as some rather neglected Japanese-style gardens.
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Praça da Sé
The old heart of the city, Praça da Sé has seen better days but still draws animated crowds, from street hawkers and nose-down business types to - unfortunately - more than its fair share of pickpockets.
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Rua Augusta
North of Paulista, Rua Augusta is São Paulo's traditional red-light district, and at night the traffic slows to a crawl as johns troll the sidewalks from their cars. The area is slowly being taken over by the city's alternative crowd, however, and its simple bars and restaurants are packed after 10pm with the young, high-minded and multiply pierced.
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Rua Oscar Freire
On the southern slope of Paulista lies Jardins, the city's leafiest and chicest central neighborhood. This is where you will find some of the city's most over-the-top shopping, especially along Alameda Lorena and, above all, Rua Oscar Freire, with its show-stopping series of boutiques and super-refined eateries. A recent face-lift has Oscar Freire looking better than ever (and the same can be said for many of its most avid shoppers).
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Shopping Light
Across Viaduto de Chá bridge lies Shopping Light, a modern, midrange mall that occupies a rather grand building once belonging to the Light English Company. There's a good food court on the 5th floor.
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Theatro Municipal
São Paulo's most splendid construction, the Theatro Municipal was begun in 1903 in the style of Paris' Palais Garnier. Its heavily ornamented façade seems to combine every architectural style imaginable, from Baroque to Art Nouveau, and its interior is clad in gold and marble. The theater hosts the city's top classical music and opera performances.
Showing 1-23 of 23 results
