Brazilian Cities & Tourism: Curitiba State of Paraná
Curitiba is a world example of town planning, education and environment. There are over 30 parks and woods with complete infrastructure for recreation and sports practice. A city of eclectic culture and strongly influenced by Italian, German, Polish and Ukrainian immigrants, from which the majority of the population is descendent. This fact is soon noticed when one arrives and observes the architecture, the gastronomy and the local habits.
EventsIt happens annually, always in the month of March.
Event with choir presentations, Christmas Crib contests and decorated homes open for visitors in December. There is an exclusive bus stopping at the main attractions.
Attractions- Botanic Gardens
Curitiba’s trademark, created to resemble French gardens, rolls out its flower carpet to the visitors right at the entrance. The greenhouse, with a metallic structure, has botanic species that are national reference, and also a water fountain.
The native forest is filled with paths for hiking. The Botanic Museum attracts researchers from all over the world. There is a space for exhibitions, library and a theater.
It is located at Eng. Ostoja Roguski Street, s/n°. Opens from 6am to 9pm, during summertime; and from 6am to 8pm during the rest of the year.
The wood has various features to celebrate and promote the German traditions. There are 38 thousand square meters of native forest, which was part of the old farm from the Schaffer family. The replica of an old wooden church, built in 1933 at the Seminário neighborhood, with neo-gothich decorative elements, shelters a concert hall called Bach’s Oratorium.
Other attractions are the John and Mary path, which tells the Grimm brothers tale, a children’s library, the Philosophers Tower, a wooden observatory allowing a panoramic view of the city and the Ocean Ridge, and the German Poetry Square, with a reproduction of the Casa Mila façade, a German building from the beginning of the last century, originally located in the city center.
It is located at Niccolo Paganini Street, corner with Franz Schubert – Vista Alegre (Jardim Schaffer). The Wood opens daily from 6am to 8pm; the Library, from 9am to 5pm; Story Time on Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm.
With an area of 1.4 million square meters, it is one of the biggest parks of the city and definitely the most visited. Not only the city residents and the tourists seek rest in the park. Guinea pigs, night herons, white herons, skunks, crown sparrows, song-thrushes and dozens of other native animals make Barigüi their home.
Among the features available in the Park there are: barbeques, kiosks, cycle and model airplanes tracks, multi-sports courts, gym equipment, car park, restaurant, playground, Automobile Museum, Exhibition and Convention Center, Steam Train Station and the Environment Municipal Council headquarters. It is located at BR-277 – Rodovia do Café, Km 0 – Bigorrilho.
Regarded as the most beautiful park of the city, one can appreciate araucarias, cinnamon, bracatingas, Paraguay tea plants and other native species. The green area, serving as an important regulator of the air quality in the region, is used by students and university teachers in practical Botanic lessons.
The Municipal Forest, next to the park, has a scientific and educational role – it is responsible for the research and production of vegetable species. Among its features there are woods with over 200 thousand square meters of typical vegetation, children’s library, playground, rustic cabin, snack bar, barbeques and car park.
It is located at 6010 Anita Garibaldi Avenue – Barreirinha. Opens daily, from 6am – 6pm.
- Gutierrez Wood / Chico Mendes Memorial / Dolls Theater
Implemented in the wood on the 22nd of March, 1989, the Chico Mendes Memorial pays homage to the amazonian rubber extraction leader, who was killed in Xapuri, Acre. It comprises 18 thousand square meters of green area, with paths and a natural spring, supplying 1,350 liters of mineral water hourly. It is home to the Amazônica School and the Dadá Dolls Theater. It is located at Albino Raschendorfer Street, s/n°. – Vista Alegre. Opens daily, from 6am – 6pm.
Polish immigration memorial, inaugurated on 13th of December, 1980, following the visit from Pop John Paul II to Curitiba, on the previous July. The area of 46,337 square meters was part of the dispossession involving the old Estearina candle factory.
The seven log houses composing the memorial are a live rememberance of the faith and battle of the Polish immigrants, with objects such as the old cart, the sour cabbage pipe and the image of the patron saint, the Black Virgin of Czestochowa. In Curitiba, the Polish immigration started in 1871. It is located at Wellington Oliveira Vianna Street, s/n°.- Centro Cívico. Opens daily from 6am – 8pm; Memorial Tuesday to Sunday, from 9am to 6:30pm.
Homage to the Portuguese-Brazilian bonds, this space is highlighted by a track following a small brook, where one can see drawn on tiles excerpts from famous Portuguese language poets, as well as a tribute to the great Portuguese navigators and their discoveries. It is located at Ozório Duque Estrada Street, s/n°. – Jardim Social. Opens daily.
Municipal libraries, located at schools or public places, with a reference collection of five thousand books inspired by two ancient landmarks: the library and the lighthouse from Alexandria. The modular building, with a metallic structure, has a height of 17 meters and 98 square meters of built area.
The internal division is simple: the ground floor – where the books are, a hall and a spiral staircase, leading to the top of the tower, where there is a lair, covered with a metallic vault and above it a rooster.
The Farol das cidades, the only one of its kind, is different from the others because of its collection, made of videos and CD-ROMs, equipped with computers and connected to the Internet and to the City Hall geoprocessing, with free access to the population. It is located at João Gava Street, s/n° - Abranches. Opens from Monday to Friday, from 9am to 9pm, and on Saturday, 9am to 1pm.
Pays homage to the 3,000 years of Jerusalem. The construction in concrete and masonry has a height of 14.5 meters and was designed bythe architect Fernando Canalli. At the top there are three bronze angels, of approximately 600 kilos each, sculpted by the artist Lys Áurea Buzzi, representing the three main monotheistic religions in the world, who believe in the existence of angels and for which Jerusalem is a sacred city: Christianism, Judaism and Islamism. It is located at Sete de Setembro Avenue, corner with Arthur Bernardes Avenue – Seminário.
Authored by Ricardo Tod, the horse head in bronze characterizing the fountain pays homage to the old immigrant colonists, who with their carts would come from their small farms at the city’s outskirts to sell their agricultural products at the center. It is located at Garibaldi Square – São Francisco.
Maria Lata D’Água FountainLocated at the vicinity of the Paranaense Museum, together with the historic houses, it was inaugurated on May 15th, 1996. Structured in concrete, it occupies an area of approximately 36 square meters and has a 60 centimeters deep water mirror. The highlight from the fountain is a reproduction of the sculpture “Água pro Morro”, from the beginning of the 1940’s, from Erbo Stenzel, one of the most important artists from Paraná. It is located at Generoso Marques Square - Center.
Paying homage to the Middle-Eastern culture, it works as a specialized library. The building reminds of the architectural style of the Moorish buildings, with elements such as the vault, the columns, the arches and the stained glass windows. With just over 140 square meters of built area, the Memorial has a cube shape and is placed over a water mirror. Inside the building, over a marble base is a sculpture representing the writer Gibran Kalil Gibran. It is located at Gibran Khalil Gibran Square - Center.
A space for art and folklore, information and memory, the past and the future. Built on an irregular land, the architectural project allows the creation of spaces and functional and creative installations. The dome, resembling a painting, makes evident the work’s role of cultural origin. It is located at Claudino dos Santos Street – São Francisco. Opens from Monday to Friday, from 9am to 6pm, and on Saturdays, 9am to 1pm.
- Mocinhas da Cidade Fountain
Located at the crossing of Cruz Machado and Alameda Cabral, pays homage to the couple and country music duo Nhô Belarmino e Nhá Gabriela. With drawings from Fernando Canalli, it has colums with rods, which frame tiled pictures showing the verses of the song “Mocinhas da Cidade”, immortalized by the duo and recorded for the first time at the beginning of the 1950’s.
- Capão da Imbuia Wood / Natural History Museum
With an internal exhibition of dioramas, stuffed animals and dehydrated vegetables. At the external area is the “Araucarias Path”, a wood remanent from the Araucaria Forest, where an elevated pathway goes trough a 400 meters long path, with 12 windows and panels showing the inter-relations of the natural elements found at the Araucaria Forest and also the different products from this vegetable formation, obtained and used by Man. It is located at Benedito Conceição Street, 407 / Prof. Nivaldo Braga Street, 1225 – Capão da Imbuia. Opens Tuesday to Sunday, from 9am to 5:30pm.
- Ópera de Arame / Pedreiras Park
It is one of the emblematic symbols of Curitiba, with tubular structure and transparent ceiling, of great beauty. Inaugurated in 1992, it caters for all types of shows, between lakes, typical vegetation and cascades, on an unique landscape. The Opera is part of the Pedreiras Park, together with the Paulo Leminski Cultural Space, where the Passion of Christ was enacted, and hosted many other big events since 1989, and can receive, in open air, 10 thousand people seating or 50 thousand standing. It is located at João Gava Street, s/n°. – Abranches. Opens Tuesday to Sunday, from 8am to 10pm.
The Grand Lodge for Brazil of the Rosicrucian Order implemented in 1956 in Rio de Janeiro was transferred to Curitiba in 1960. The temple is part of an architectural complex of six buildings in Egyptian style, a homage to the first members who would get together in the secret chambers of the great pyramid.
In the other buildings are the general administration, the Auditorium H. Spencer Lewis, a memorial with a pyramid and the Curitiba Lodge, where the library and museum are located, with reproductions of Egyptian pieces from various dynasties, including papyrus and mommies. It is located at 2641 Nicarágua Street – Bacacheri. Opens from Monday to Friday, from 8:30am to 12 noon, and on Saturdays, 2:30 pm to 5pm.
Iguaçu Park / ZooIt is the largest urban park in Brazil, with 8 million square meters.
Equipped with car parks, kiosks, bar and snack bar, the park offers many attractions, divided in seven different areas: sports, nautics, fishing, natural wood, public orchards, ecologic sanctuaries and zoo. Here, over one thousand animals from 80 species can be seen: birds from all over South America, reptiles and mammals from many different origins, kept in an environment as close as possible to their natural habitat. It is located at Mal. Floriano Avenue, s/n°. – Alto Boqueirão. Opens from Tuesday to Friday, from 8:30am to 4pm; Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, from 8:30am to 5pm.
Almost 6.5 million square meters are within the Passaúna Basin, West of Curitiba. Almost 3.5 million square meters belong to the lake created by the reservoir of the Water Supply Station. A lot of Nature can be seen from above, from the observatory, where a panoramic view surprises with its beauty and grandiosity. Ecologic trails and the Biological Station, an old brickyard, are worth visiting. It is located at Eduardo Sprada Street, s/n° – Augusta. Opens daily.
Inaugurated in November 1996, it has a total area of 450 thousand square feet. Highlights of the park are two quarries linked by a 45 meters long tunnel, which could be crossed by walk, on a pathway over the water. The park also features a jogging track, cycle track, observatory, snack bar and Poty Lazzarotto Garden. It is located at Dr. Bemben Street, s/n° - Pilarzinho.
Part of the biggest linear environmental park in the Country, established at the Barigüi river margins, it reminds us of the indians who used to live there, with the statue of Tindiqüera Chieftain. The Ukrainian Memorial is also there, homage to the immigrants, in a replica of an orthodox church, originally built in inland Paraná State, hosting a pêssankas and icons exhibition. It is located at Fredolin Wolf Avenue, s/n° / José Casagrande Street, s/n° - São João. Opens – Park – daily; Memorial – Tuesday to Sunday, 9am to 6pm/ Crafts Shop – Tuesday to Sunday, 2:30pm to 6pm.
It used to be called Botanic Garden. The first public park in Curitiba, it was inaugurated by the president of the Paraná province, Alfredo d’Escragnolle Taunay, on the 2nd of May, 1886. It was the first big sanitation work in the city, transforming a marsh in a leisure area, with lakes, bridges and islands within the green area. Pioneer zoo in Curitiba, even today it shelters small animals. The gate is a copy of what existed at the Paris Dog Cemetery. It is located at Luiz Leão Street, s/n – Center. It is open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 6am to 8pm; the aquarium works from 9am to 5pm, also from Tuesday to Sunday.
Homage to the sons of the “Rising Sun”, who settled there dedicating themselves to agriculture. Scattered around the square are 30 cherry trees sent from Japan by the Nipponese empire and artificial lakes Japanese style. In 1993 the Japanese Portal, the Culture House and the Tea House were built. It is located at Sete de Setembro Avenue, junction with Rep. Argentina Avenue – Água Verde. Opens – Culture House – Tuesday to Sunday, 9am to 6pm; Tea Ceremony – Thursdays from 9am to 4pm.
It is the main one in Curitiba, dominated by the Basilica Cathedral Minor of Our Lady of Light, centennial in 1993. In this area, on the 29th of March, 1693, Curitiba was founded. Anciently known as Largo da Matriz, the square is the city’s initial landmark. In 1880, because of the emperor D. Pedro II visit to Paraná, the Square became known as D. Pedro II. Nine years later, at the Republic, it has received the current name of Tiradentes Square. It is an important public transport terminal. It is a permanent meeting point, bringing fond memories to the common curitibano memory.
Inaugurated in 1989, the wood is a homage from the city to the German geologist and researcher based in Paraná, whose work has contributed to the preservation of the environment in the State. The Wood has an area of remanent araucaria forest, with unique species in the whole region; an adventure trail with educational and ecologic toys for children; recreational equipment; and an evironmental education house. It is located at 70 André Ferreira Camargo Street, Vl Hauer. Opens on weekends and public holidays from 8am to 5pm.
The Street that never sleeps is the synthesis of a city which also never sleeps. It is 120 meters long and 12 meters wide. It is composed by 32 arches in metallic tubular structure, trademark of the modern curitibana architecture. There are 34 shops that are open eternally, from the daybreak sandwich to the bank withdrawal; from the pharmacy to the florist; from books to milk for the children. Great meeting point for tourists and curitibanos seeking leisure, pastimes, night life and good eating options. At 24 Horas street it also possible to have free Internet access, day and night. The user just has to schedule a time. It is located between Visconde de Nácar and Visconde do Rio Branco Streets – Center.
A space surrounded by fables, at João Cândido Square. The ruins are made of stone, of what should have been the São Francisco de Paula church, never finished. In 1811 the chapel and the sacristy were finished, but in 1860 the stones that would finish the construction were used to finish the old Matriz tower, currently the Basilica Cathedral Minor of Our Lady of Light. Stories of tunnels and pirates live in the place, today filled with leisure and business spaces, stage and grandstand, forming the “Ruins’ Arcades”.
Neighborhood where some of the first Italian immigrants arriving in Paraná settled, where they dedicated themselves to the agricultural production, planting herbs, wine and cheese making and willow tress.
Almost in front of the church is the cemetery, with the unique pantheon made of 18 chapels in neo-classic style, which became heritage through the Historic and Artistic Heritage. Standing out for their architecture, the Geraniums House, the Panels House, the Arcades House and the Culpi House.
The greatest attraction in Santa Felicidade is to be the gastronomic district of Curitiba, with a large number of restaurants offering typical food and wine from the colony. There are also wineries and wine bars, craft stores and willow furniture. Along Manoel Ribas Avenue.
- São Cristóvão / Italian Wood
A place for the typical parties of the Italian community in the district, such as the Grape Party, the Wine Party and the 4 Giorni in Italy. It has structure for food and drink stalls, space for shows and folkloric presentations and a polenta pot. It is located at Margarida Ângela Zardo Miranda Street, s/n°. Opens from Monday to Friday, from 8am to 5pm.
Complex with the oldest buildings in the city. Among these buildings are the Romário Martins House, from the XVIII century and the Church of the Third Order of Saint Francis, from 1737, as well as the architectural examples inspired by the Germans, from the second half of the XIX century. On Sunday mornings, the old stones at the Largo da Ordem and the pavement giving access to Garibaldi Square, with the Rosário Church, the Flowers Clock, the Memory Fountain and the Società Giuseppe Garibaldi make the setting for the Crafts Fair, an exciting meeting point with live music. It is located at Largo da Ordem / Praça Coronel Enéas, Praça Garibaldi – São Francisco.
Live memory from the multi-faceted culture of the curitibanos, it is one of the biggest theaters in Latin America. It used to be called Theatro São Theodoro, inaugurated in 1884 at Dr. Muricy Street and rebaptized in 1900 as Guaíra Theater. It was demolished in 1930 and the rebuilding, in 1952, already at the current location, was linked to the celebrations of the Centenary of Political Emancipation of Paraná (19th of December, 1953). It only got finished in the 70’s. There are three auditoriums, the biggest of them with 2173 seats. It is located at XV de Novembro Street, s/n, Santos Andrade Square – Centro.
Symbol of the cultural change in Curitiba in the 1970’s, it inaugurated the process of recycling the use of buildings which are valuable for the city’s collective memory. Built in 1906, the old gunpowder barn was restored and recycled in the 1970’s, becoming an arena theater. Its inauguration on December 27th 1971, was baptized by the poet Vinícius de Moraes, with whisky and a song specially composed for the occasion, “Paiol de Pólvora”. In the inauguration show, besides the “poetinha”, Toquinho and Marília Medalha also took part. It is located at Chile Street, corner with Reynaldo Machado Street – Prado Velho. Opens daily, from 8:30am – noon and 1pm to 9pm.
It is at the highest point in Curitiba, allowing a 360 degree vision of the city, from a height of 95 meters. It is managed by Telepar and Curitiba City Hall, which promote video sessions and tourism guidance. Also there is the Telephone Museum. It is located at Prof. Lycio Grein de Castro Vellozo Street, corner with Jacarezinho Street – Mercês. Opens Tuesday to Sunday, from 10am to 7pm.
Here the gaucho culture is preserved, brought by the cattle drivers who would pass near Curitiba, conducting the troops towards the Sorocaba Fair, which gave origin to various cities in the State. The park is equipped with installations suitable for rodeos and typical dances. It is located at Maria Lúcia Locher de Athayde Street, 10.000 – Cidade Industrial. It is open on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, from 8am to 7pm.
Paraná Federal UniversityIt was created in 1912, at Comendador Araújo Street, but still in the 1910’s decade was transferred to the current address, taking over Santos Andrade Square. It is located at Santos Andrade Square, s/n. – Center. Opens – No open visiting
- Universidade Livre do Meio Ambiente
Within the Zaninelli Wood green, the Universidade Livre do Meio Ambiente made Curitiba the first city in the world to keep a space for studies and transmission of knowledge about the environment and ecology to the population.
The architectural project, performed with rustic materials, repeats in shape and color the four elements of Nature: earth, fire, water and wind. Despite the rare beauty, the main purpose of the space is to create an environmental conscience in the citizen as a survival factor. It was created on the 5th of June, 1991 – at the current space – inaugurated by the French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau – from 1992. It is located at Victor Benato Street, 210. Pilarzinho. Opens daily, from 7am – 6pm.
ShoppingCuritiba is widely served with shopping places. Besides historic places like Rua das Flores, the city has the comfort of many shopping centers. Another interesting shopping and leisure option is the 24 Horas Street.
Located in the heart of Bahia, Chapada Diamantina is cut by mountains, large plateaus, rivers, rapids, waterfalls, caverns and transparent pools of water. It has several springs sprouting from the rocky cliffs and more than 35 rivers – the largest are the Paraguaçu and Preto Rivers. Due to relief variations and to diverse forms of vegetation, the fauna is very rich and some species can be seen very easily, such as humming birds, parakeets, parrots, capybaras, and small lizards. It also has some small rodents, known as mocós (a kind of guinea pig) – which adapt from the feet of calcareous hills to the plateaus, over the mountain – and even some species of large mammals threatened with extinction, such as jaguars and pumas.