January 22, 2003

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  The city is commemorating

  
  

  The most cosmopolitan of cities this month marks its 449th year. And the anniversary celebrations could not be half-hearted. São Paulo, a city of great demonstrations, with culture engraved in its very foundations, so many comings and goings, celebrates its achievements with concerts, sports competitions, guided tours and lots of leisure.
  One of the events is the “Caminhada Histórica de São Paulo” that happens on January 25th , at 10 a.m. in front of Catedral Metropolitana (Sé). It’ll take one hour and half and it will pass at historical places like Pátio do Colégio, Mosteiro de São Bento, Vale do Anhangabaú, República Square, Teatro Municipal and Viaduto do Chá . It’ll be given pamphlets of these places.

  
  

  The State’s Capital was born on a flat-topped hill, surrounded by the rivers Tamanduateí and Anhangabaú, on January 25th, 1554. It was at this beautiful spot that priests from the “Company of Jesus” founded the Jesuit’s College – today known as ‘Pátio do Colégio’ (College Courtyard). Climbing the sea mountain range, known as “Serra do Mar”, the missionaries, Anchieta and Manoel da Nóbrega among them, found Piratininga to be a place safe from attacks by Indians.
  Following on from the college, the construction of the first mud huts began and gave birth to the settlement called São Paulo de Piratininga.
  Since its origins, São Paulo has always been an obligatory gateway of passage to the world. Here was the meeting point for the Southern troops going to the mines or to the court; for large landowners from the countryside; for students and political leaderships. The city was predestined to be the stage for great events, like the proclamation of Brazil’s Independence, the Modernist Movement of 1922 and the Revolution of 1932.
  Its economic expansion actually started in 1880 with the coffee culture and the construction of the railroads linking the city to the port of Santos. From then on, it has never stopped growing. The city opened its gates to millions of migrants and immigrants, which not only contributed to its development, but also assured its cosmopolitan personality.

  
  

  Sao Paulo is the biggest city in South America with 17 million people, a city of immigrants and of colourful ethnic neighbourhoods. The city is considered the cultural capital of Brazil with world-wide orchestra’s, opera and dance companies performing in sometimes open-air venues. As a bonus, if the city’s hectic lifestyle becomes too much, then there are excellent beaches only 40 miles away. Everything is available in this immense cultural melting pot which makes even New York look like a small town.

  
  

  There are many disadvantages of living in a place like this. Pollution, stress and violence take away anyone´s peace and healf. But is is sure a place to be compared to a huge school of living learning. Those one who master it… have got much to share.

  
  

   

  • 8:32 pm
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