Information for Travelers
Sao Paulo is the financial center of Brazil and one of the most populous cities in the world.
The largest city in South America, Sao Paulo is located on the Piratininga plateau and is surrounded by rivers that spread inland.
Almost from its founding in 1554, Sao Paulo became the gateway to the sertão, and explorers known as bandeirantes made expeditions from the city to this region.
Today's main highways to the cities of the interior still follow the routes of the pioneers.
Perhaps the hardest thing to understand about the city is its size.
A good way to get an idea of its extension is from the viewpoint of the Edifício Itália, with 46 floors, on Avenida Ipiranga.
Many of Sao Paulo's tourist attractions are scattered around, so you'll find the Metro a good way to travel between them.
In this football-mad country, a city like Sao Paulo would be desolate if it didn't have a museum dedicated to the "beautiful game".
This fantastic museum offers insights and information about the game and how it holds a special place in the hearts of all Brazilians.
Spread over 6,000 square meters and 15 galleries are interactive exhibits that are engaging and fun.
Ibirapuera Park was designed by landscaper Roberto Burle Marx, with buildings designed by Oscar Niemeyer.
The immense green space with its monuments, museums, playgrounds, gardens, trails, lakes and show spaces is a leisure paradise for Sao Paulo residents, as well as a showcase of modern architecture and culture.
The park is immensely popular with over 14 million people visiting every year.
Commemorating the pioneers of Sao Paulo who opened the interior of Brazil, the Monument to the Flags is a magnificent work by Brazilian sculptor Victor Brecheret, with imposing heroic figures.
Culture
Immigrants from all over the world have always been a part of Sao Paulo, and you will still see the influence of Portuguese, Spanish, German, African, Jewish, Arab and Japanese residents on its life and culture.
There is an entire museum dedicated to Japanese immigration, for example, and another to the contributions of Africans in Brazil.
The city is home to numerous cultural institutions and has a multifaceted and traditional architecture.
The Sao Paulo Museum of Art, known locally as MASP, was only opened in 1968, but it has the most representative and comprehensive collection of Western art in Latin America. V
You will see works by impressionists and modern masters - Renoir, Van Gogh, Matisse, Manet, Debret, Picasso, Miró, plus 73 works of bronze sculpture by Degas.
Famous landmarks include the neo-Gothic cathedral, the 1929 Martinelli Building skyscraper and the curved Copan Building by modernist architect Oscar Niemeyer.
The colonial-style church Pátio do Colégio marks the spot where Sao Paulo was founded in 1554 by Jesuit priests.
Read about Sao Paulo in Wikipedia
Current time in Sao Paulo Brazil with seconds according to the official atomic clock.
