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Municipality in Southeast, Brazil
Photo: Ana Paula Hirama, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Piracicaba is a city of 407,000 people (2020) in Campinas Region of São Paulo state. The birthplace of the caipirinha, Piracicaba is regarded as one of the most pleasant medium-sized cities in the state. Attractions of the city include a charming riverside area, historical heritage, Tyrolese villages and the beautiful campus of the agriculture school of University of São Paulo.
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The pedestrianized street in the front of the Piracicaba river, containing old, colorful fisherman houses, is not only a place with excellent bars and restaurants, but also where the city was first settled.
This 19th-century house is used as tourist information center, and hosts some cultural expositions. Not open on Monday.
A small segmented waterfall in the Piracicaba River that gives the name to the city.
Park by the Piracicaba river, that provides some nice views of the segmented waterfall, the Rua do Porto, and the city center.
With an area of 85,000 m², the "Barão de Rezende" sugar mill, constructed in a 1881, is a valuable historical heritage. It hosts several cultural events.
Built in 1887, the old water catchment station is now an educational museum and offers some nice views of the Piracicaba river.
Rammed-earth house constructed between the 18th and 19th centuries, used to host small expositions.
Tourist elevator on the bridge above the Piracicaba waterfall. Good view of downtown and river.
Old Colégio Piracicabano
Former school founded in 1881 by an American missionary, nowadays a cultural center.
Museum dedicated to the history of Piracicaba and Brazil's first civil president, Prudente de Moraes, who lived in the same construction during the 19th century. Built in an eclectic style, it is a national heritage site.
The Methodist church in Piracicaba started with American missionaries, the same ones who founded the Colégio Piracicabano and the Universidade Metodista de Piracicaba (UNIMEP). The current construction is from 1922.
The contemporary-style building hosts temporary art expositions.
The church and the annex school (former Colégio Assunção) were founded in 1893 by Salesian nuns, intended to compete with the Methodist Colégico Piracicabano. Colégio Assunção (nowadays Colégio Dom Bosco Assunção) used to be a girls-only school, where women of some of the wealthiest families in the region have studied.
Historical public school, founded in 1897. Its charming facade illustrates the high quality of Brazilian public schools at the end of the 19th century.
Another fancy-looking public school, founded in 1900.
Igreja Sagrado Coração de Jesus de Piracicaba
Church founded in 1897 by Capuchin friars from Trento, also to contain the expansion of the Methodist church in the city.
Piracicaba's train station, inaugurated in 1922 and deactivated in 1970. Now it hosts a cultural center.
Piracicaba's central square, where the city's cathedral, built in 1959 in Romantic style, is located. Hosts a handcrafts fair in the first week of each month.
Market with individual stalls: fruit/veg, meat, pastaleria.
Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz
The University of São Paulo's agriculture school, founded in 1901, is also one of the Piracicaba's main postcards. Its attractions are its beautiful, early 20th century buildings and surrounding green areas.
This impressive construction, from 1917, hosts a public school founded by the Italian educator Sud Mennuci. It was used in the past for preparing teachers, hence the sign "Escola Normal".
The "other" Dom Bosco Catholic school, located in a beautiful eclectic structure, inaugurated in 1950.
Beautiful Catholic church decorated with angels and a Christ the Redeemer statue.
A historical neighborhood built around the "Monte Alegre" sugarcane mill, founded in 1824 and deactivated in 1980. Along with the mill, it also contains a church, constructed in 1936, and several worker houses previously inhabited by Italian immigrants. Many constructions are in poor state, although a revitalization process has been started.
Santa Olímpia is a rural Tyrolese neighborhood that maintains strong traditions. It is best visited during a cultural event such as the Festival da Polenta.
15-minute boat rides along the Piracicaba river, departing at Rua do Porto. Day trips to other municipalities (like Barra Bonita) are also available by reservation.
Founded in 1888, Piracicaba's municipal market is a great place to eat pamonha.
A traditional and popular restaurant that serves peixe no tambor. Pay per kilogram of fish.
Handcrafts fair that typically happens in Rua do Porto during Saturdays and Sundays. Check the website for exact dates.
Handcrafts fair that happens in the city center, starting in the first Tuesday of each month and ending on Saturdays. Check the website for exact dates.
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