São Paulo celebrates its 471st birthday this Saturday, the 25th. After such a long time, it’s to be expected that the city holds many secrets and stories that we often overlook in our daily lives. That’s why, in honor of the city’s anniversary, here are some interesting facts about the streets and neighborhoods of São Paulo, which bring back the various narratives that helped make up our capital.
5 curiosities about the neighborhoods and streets of SP
Did it snow on Avenida Paulista?
An old story tells that, in 1918, a weather station on Avenida Paulista recorded snow falling in the area. At that time, São Paulo’s most famous avenue was not yet so popular. In fact, it was surrounded by Atlantic Forest vegetation, which made the climate much colder than it is today. So could this snow in São Paulo be true?
On June 25, 1918, the Paulista weather station did record a very low temperature: -3°C. But although the cold was intense, it didn’t cause snow. What happened that day was a frost, so strong that it was forever marked in the imagination of São Paulo residents as snow.
There was once a gallows in Liberdade
Today, Liberdade is known as São Paulo’s Asian neighborhood. But did you know that its origins go back many years before this immigration?
In the 19th century, the area was called Bairro da Pólvora and was home to the so-called Largo da Forca, a square where people were executed by the death penalty. Many enslaved and indigent people died there and were buried in the cemetery of Capela dos Aflitos (photo), which still stands today in an alley in Liberdade.
Even the neighborhood’s name has ancient origins. Legend has it that in 1821, the famous black soldier Francisco José das Chagas, or Chaguinhas, died on the gallows. After leading a revolt of soldiers demanding better wages, the Portuguese Crown sentenced him to death by gallows. However, the ropes that would end his life broke several times, and those present shouted “freedom, freedom!”, calling for Chaguinhas’ life.
University students made Beco do Batman possible
In the 1980s, the current Beco do Batman was called Larguinho. Many students from the University of São Paulo, who frequented bars like Sujinho, began to hang out there, turning the area into a bohemian hub.
The presence of São Paulo’s bohemian class also brought graffiti artists, who began to leave their mark on local walls in the 1980s. By the 2000s, the old Larguinho had become one of Vila Madá‘s most famous tourist spots, attracting visitors from all over the world to admire the beautiful, colorful drawings.
The second longest avenue in Brazil is in São Paulo
The longest avenue in the capital has its origins in the 19th century and is in the East Zone. Do you know which one it is? We’re talking about Avenida Sapopemba, which, at 45 kilometers long, is longer than any other street, avenue or marginal road in the capital.
Its original name was Estrada de Sapopemba (Sapopemba Road ) and it connected farms and ranches in the region, which was rural until then. Today it is also the second longest road in Brazil, second only to Avenida Brasil in Rio de Janeiro.
Rua Augusta began as a trail
Finally, here are some interesting facts about one of SP’s most iconic streets. Augusta has its origins in the 1870s, when the Portuguese Mariano António Vieira, who owned farms in the region, began to make paths there. It’s worth remembering that, until then, the region was very rural.
Rua Augusta then emerged as a dirt track linking the central region to Avenida Paulista. It was chosen because it was less steep and made for a more pleasant walk than Rua da Consolação – which, in turn, had existed since the 16th century under the name Caminho de Pinheiros.