The Paulistas, imbued with the spirit of freedom, have bestowed upon many of their streets and squares the names of patriots and public benefactors, as witness the Avenue Tiradentes, which perpetuates the name and fame of one of the ardent spirits of the eighteenth century, who ever strove to rouse the nation to throw off the yoke of Portugal.
Tiradentes, although not the leader of the conspiracy which failed, nevertheless was a martyr to the cause and was beheaded, drawn, and quartered, his head exposed to the public gaze in Ouro Preto, and his house there burned to the ground. He was the first republican to shed his blood in the cause of Brazilian independence, but not till a century after his death was the aim accomplished.
Throughout the city such names as Avenida Rangel Pestana and Rua Visconda do Rio Branco testify to the esteem in which the inhabitants hold their public men.
In striking contrast to the narrower streets is the Viaducto Clia, a broad avenue that leads to the new part of the city where everything is on a magnificent scale, with squares and avenues of which any city might well be proud. The valley which separates the old city from the new was undergoing great alterations during my visit, vast business palaces springing up on this beautiful
THE THEATRE OF S. PAULO.
site. Overlooking this valley, which is being laid out tastefully as a public garden, stands the Municipal Theatre, one of the finest buildings in the country, built at a cost of nearly half a million sterling. It is a fine monument to the wisdom, skill, and taste of its projectors, engineers, and architects, and from its commanding position compares more than favourably with its rival in Rio. The interior is elaborately decorated. Marble staircases, handsome balustrades, gilded columns, white and gold walls, and frescoed ceilings all enrich the imposing vestibule. The foyer is a spacious apartment, seen at its best when a dance is going forward. It was my good fortune to be present at a ball given by its inhabitants in honour of its architect, Dr. Ramos de Azevedo, and Señor Antonio Prado, who was Mayor of the city when the theatre was commenced. Exquisite floral decorations were lavished upon the staircase, corridors, and ballrooms, thousands of electric lamps being dotted everywhere amidst the flowers.
The brilliance of the ladies’ costumes set off with sparkling diamonds gave an added animation to a scene which equalled if it did not surpass the grand functions in Rio, where one is used to costly and elaborate displays.
The Largo do Palacio is a pleasing square which overlooks a great stretch of the surrounding country, and is formed by the President’s Palace and the administration buildings of Justice, Agriculture, and Finance, an imposing and quiet retreat on the margin of the busiest part of the city. But São Paulo is rich in fine buildings, schools, technical colleges, and institutes testifying to the educational facilities afforded to all classes of the community. Hospitals and asylums evince care for the sick and mentally afflicted. Government enterprise in the erection of these buildings has been ably seconded by private munificence, and the Escola de Commerco Alvares Penteado is a good example of the public spirit displayed by the citizens. This fine building, presented to the town by the Condé de Penteado, occupies the whole side of one of its squares, and its good and pleasant proportions are in the style associated with the latest architectural movements on the continent of Europe. The Condé has done much to embellish the city, and his private residence, the Villa Penteado, in the suburb of Hygienopolis, is one of the most notable of the hundreds of luxurious mansions that adorn the surrounding avenues.
This villa is in reality a palace quite in harmony with the progress of the city. The design reflects modernity of taste down to its minutest details, and the happy use that has been made of native woods in the internal decorations and fittings is truly ingenious. Its owner, a notable figure in São Paulo, has had much to do with the cultivation of coffee, for, inheriting estates of growing importance, he was not content to remain a “fazendero,” but entered into the field of industry with all the keenness characteristic of the Paulistas, and inaugurated one of the largest jute mills in Brazil. His son, the Condé Sylvia, follows close in his father’s footsteps, being a thorough believer in the Gospel of Work, and presents the rare spectacle of a young man of fortune energetically forcing his way to the front as a captain of industry.