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Republic Square (Praça da República) is a nice urban park with tall trees and a small lagoon. It’s a great escape from the bustling urban jungle that is São Paulo. There are a few attractions located near the park.
State Secretary of Education
One building on the park is the State Secretary of Education (Secretária de Estado da Educação). It was built in 1894 as the Caetano de Campos Normal School (Escola Normal Caetano de Campos), which occupied the building until 1978.
Edificio Itália
A short walk southwest of the park down Avenida Ipiranga is one of the city’s most famous skyscrapers. We attempted to go to the top of Edificio Itália, the 2nd tallest building in São Paulo at 46 stories and 3rd tallest in Brazil. It was built between 1956 and 1965 and named in honor of the thousands of Italian immigrants who moved to the city. The architect was Franz Heep (1902-1978).
Visiting Edifício Itália was a bad experience and a bad idea overall. We had to take two elevators to the top but then found out the observation deck is open only for one hour, from 3-4pm (Note: it’s now open daily from 3pm to 7pm). There’s also a restaurant with equally fantastic views. Admission to the roof deck is R$50 (as of February 2024).
Since we didn’t visit during the roof deck hours, we sat down at the restaurant, Terraço Itália, and ordered some food and drinks. After sitting down for a good 20 minutes and ordering, the waiter then informed us there’s a cover charge on top of the food charge. We ended up walking out. After leaving the restaurant and walking to the elevator in the lobby, the hostess arrogantly smiled at us and proceeded to rope off the staircase with a large window and a wonderful view of São Paulo. Is it THAT privileged of a view?
If we had been informed about the cover charge before sitting down, it would not have been a problem. The whole experience rubbed us the wrong way. Either come between 3pm and 4pm or skip it and stick with Edifício Altino Arantes. I did manage to snap a few photos from a window while waiting for the elevator to go down.
Our Lady of Consolation
A bit further down Avenida Ipiranga is the Church of Our Lady of Consolation (Igreja Nossa Senhora da Consolação), built in 1840. This was a nice surprise. The exterior doesn’t look like much, but the interior is decorated with colorful frescoes and marble.
Municipal Theatre
In the other direction from Republic Square, a five minute walk up a pedestrian street, Rua Barão de Itapetininga, took us to the Municipal Theatre (Theatro Municipal). It opened in 1911 and is probably the most beautiful of the older buildings we saw in São Paulo. It was designed by Brazilian architect Ramos de Azevedo (1851-1928).
Parque Anhangabau
The theatre is next to a bridge that spans over Parque Anhangabau and leads to the heart of the city center. Parque Anhangabau is the largest park in the city center.
