The city of Porto Alegre

Note: If you click on a link, please select MATERIAIS COMPLEMENTARES from the left on the new page; then choose the photo you would like to see.

The city of Porto Alegre

Porto Alegre is well known for its hospitality. Since the 19th Century, the city has received successive waves of immigration, including the Italian, German, Polish, Japanese, Spanish, Jewish, Arabian and African, totaling more than twenty five groups. This multiethnic formation made Porto Alegre a city that is always open to new visitors and experiences.

The city, officially founded in March 26th 1776, is the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state of Brazil, neighboring Uruguay and Argentina (map). The cultural formation of the state also strongly influenced by the frontiers between the three countries. People from Rio Grande do Sul are proudly named “gaucho” after the cowboy that lived in the southern fields (pampas) of the state, as portrayed in the Estátua do Laçador in one of the main entrances to Porto Alegre.

With a population of more than 1.4 million people and occupying an area of approximately 480 square km, the city is located on the shore of Guaíba. Porto Alegre is an amagam of different geographies, where lowland spaces are surrounded by 40 hills and bordered by 72 km of river shore. The climate is classified as humid subtropical, with the following temperature ranges: Winter (July to September), from 2 degrees C to 20 degrees C; Spring (September to November), from 15 degrees C to 30 degrees C; Summer (December to March), from 25 degrees C to 35 degrees C; and Autumn (April to June), from 10 degrees C and 25 degrees C.

Tourist Information

Porto Alegre is a metropolis with leisure and entertainment options for all ages and styles. You will find here some tips to fully enjoy your visit to Porto Alegre.

Parks are essential stopping points to find out a little more about the customs of Porto Alegre people: outdoor life, relaxed conversation and the inseparable “chimarrão”, the gaucho way of drinking tea. Lovingly known as Redenção (Redemption), 40 hectares of the Farroupilha Park form the oldest and the most popular meeting point in the city, with several different areas. The park hosts an Ecological Market on Saturdays and a Flea Market on Sundays, with handcrafts, visual art, antiques, food stalls and cultural activities. Other major green spaces include the Moinhos de Vento Park or “Parcão” (Big Park) and Marinha do Brasil Park, with one of the largest skate tracks in the country.

The Guaíba lakeshore is one of Porto Alegre’s main picture postcards locations. The sunset is one icon of the city and can be enjoyed along 15 km between the Usina do Gasômetro and the Ipanema Beach Promenade in the Southern Zone, which is a place for walking, cycling, water sports and popular bars and restaurants. The splendid Guíaba sunset can also been seen from the 4th floor of the Usina do Gasômetro Cultural Center.

In the heart of the city, history and culture form an open-air museum. Start your tour at the Historic Center, visiting the Mercado Público (Public Market), the Chalé da Praça XV (restaurant), and the Paço Municipal. Make your way to Rua da Praia, see the busy activity at the traditional Esquina Democrática, discover the CEEE Erico Verísssimo Cultural Center, the Praça da Alfândega, the Memorial do RS (museum), the Santander Cultural Center, and the Rio Grande do Sul Museum of Art (MARGS). The historical route also includes the Hipólito José da Costa Museum of Communication, the Cultural Center Mário Quintana, the Igreja das Dores and the Comando Militar do Sul (museum). The Praça da Matriz is the civic, administrative, religious, and cultural center of the state, housing the Piratini Palace, the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Júlio de Castilhos Museum, the Solar da Câmara and the São Pedro Theather. The tourist cannot leave without seeing the Usina do Gasômetro, one of the best-known cultural centers in the city, on the shore of Guaíba Lake.

The Caminho dos Antiquários is transformed into an unique market on Saturdays. The old streets of Demétrio Ribeiro, Fernando Machado and Marechal Floriano converge on the Praça Daltro Filho, where their various antique shops end the week with a market.

Country Routes reveal surprising corners of the Southern zone. The route consists of 30 attractions open for visits, such as “cantinas” of colonial products and handcraft, restaurants offering home-cooking and exotic meats, rustic style lodgings, stud farms, Guaíba shore campgrounds, orchids, table grape vineyards, hand-made wine and fruit-juice, environmental conservation areas, ecological trails, fishing lakes and children’s recreation park. The landscape can be appreciated from the Mãe de Deus Sanctuary at the top of Pedra Redonda hill, with a splendid view of almost 360 degrees of the shore and the city.

The cultural life of Porto Alegre is intense and in tune with national and international trends. With 63 cinema auditoriums (the most per inhabitant in the country), 32 drama, dance and music venue, around 50 art galleries, the city has year-round culture. Due to the influence of the immigrants, the architecture is mainly inspired by European fashion, matching the modern edifices with old buildings that reflect more than two hundred years of history.

Night starts and stretches through various options. Start with an ice-cold beer in the bars and restaurants at the Public Market, or the Chalé da Praça XV (restaurant). Increase your options in the Moinhos de Vento district, with highlights in Goethe Avenue and the sophisticated Calçada da Fama (Hall of Fame) in Rua Fernando Gomes and Padre Chargas. Head for Cidade Baixa for an alternative atmosphere and relaxed spaces. The city night is also busy at the Ipanema Promenade in the Southern Zone.

Porto Alegre also demonstrates its diversity in the restaurants. There are various gastronomic options, which can please both those looking for simple but delicious dishes and the more refined gourmets. Do not miss the opportunity to eat a good barbeque, a specialty of the Brazilian South, in one of the 70 barbeque restaurants in the city. In some of them, people are treated with shows that present typical dances and entertainment of the South.

Have a good visit to Porto Alegre, meet the people, the traditions and come back soon!

Credits for the Pictures

Estátua do Laçador (Luciano Lanes); Shore of Guaíba (João Fiorin); Redenção (Ricardo Stricher); Moinhos de Vento Park (Ricardo Giusti); Marinha do Brasil Park (Cristine Rochol); Guaíba’s sunset (Luciano Lanes); Usina do Gasômetro (Ivo Gonçalves); Ipanema Beach Promenade (Cristine Rochol); Usina do Gasômetro Cultural Center (Ivo Gonçalves); Mercado Público Central (João Fiorin); Chalé da Praça XV (Caroline Morelli); Paço Municipal (Ricardo Giusti); Cultural Center Mário Quintana (Octacílio Dias); Igreja das Dores (Ivo Gonçalves); Praça da Matriz (Ricardo Stricher); São Pedro Theather (Ricardo Giusti); Guaíba Lake (Luciano Lanes); Caminho dos Antiquários (Ivo Gonçalves); Public Market (Octacílio Dias); Moinhos de Vento district (Ricardo Giusti); Ipanema Promenade (Cristine Rochol).