Eastern Districts, São Paulo Zona Leste

Zona Leste (Eastern Districts)

The Zona Leste covers a large area extending almost to Arujá, on the Via Dutra. It contains settlements of the colonial period, districts which grew up during the wave of European immigration and more recent developments. Much of the industry which promoted the growth of the city is in this area.

Related Attractions

Brás

Towards the end of the 19th century the outlying settlement of Brás, near Praça da Sé, which had hitherto been occupied by craftsmen and small traders, began to be transformed into an industrial suburb of São Paulo inhabited mainly by Italian immigrants. Although it has kept its old cantinas (typically Italian restaurants) and its folk traditions like the Festa de San Gennaro, it is now one of the districts of São Paulo occupied mainly by impoverished immigrants from north-eastern Brazil.

Casa das Retortas

The Casa das Retortas in Rua Figueira, a 100-year-old building in British industrial style which housed the city's first gasometer, is evidence of the industrial development and urban spread of the late 19th century. The building is now a research center concerned with artistic activities in São Paulo.

Centro Histórico do Imigrante

The Centro Histórico do Imigrante in Rua Visconde de Parnaíba displays documents on the various waves of immigrants into the city and the region.

Tatuapé

To the east of Brás are the Belenzinho and Moóca districts, which also have an Italian stamp. In the Tatuapé district, still farther east, are Piqueri Park, on the banks of the Rio Tietà, and the Casa do Tatuapé, an 18th century house which is now a cultural center.

Penha

The old district of Penha is bounded by tributaries of the Rio Tietà.

Parque da Zona Leste

The Parque da Zona Leste (Centro de Lazer Engenheiro Goulart) - part of the Tietà Ecological Park (Parque Ecológico do Tietà) - lies above Penha and to the east of Vila Maria; it is reached on Via Parque, which runs parallel to the Rodovia dos Trabalhadores. It offers swimming pools. boat hire, various sports facilities, football pitches, children's playgrounds and keep-fit trails.

Nossa Senhora da Penha

N.S. da Penha

The church of Nossa Senhora da Penha de França, is what the the settlement or Penha originally grew up around.

São Miguel Paulista

São Miguel Paulista, a settlement founded in the colonial period, lies north-east of the city center, near Garulhos and the Tietà Ecological Park. It has one of the oldest churches in São Paulo, the chapel of São Miguel (1622), on a square plan.

Parque Chico Mendes

Inn the São Miguel Paulista district is Chico Mendes Park, established in 1989 on the Chácara da Figueira (also known as Vila Curuça) to protect one of the last areas of mata atlântica in São Paulo. The vegetation in this park includes chorisias (floss-silk trees), guapuruvurs or baquerubus and jatobás or jataís (two trees belonging to the Leguminosae), bromeliads, samambaias-açu or xaxims (trees related to the ferns) and many other species.

Itaquera

Itaquera Parque do Carmo

The Itaim Paulista and Guaianazes districts to the east of São Miguel Paulista lie on the eastern boundary of the city. Farther in, below São Miguel, are Ermelino Matarazzo and Itaquera.

Parque do Carmo

The main feature of Itaquera is the Parque do Carmo, one of the largest open spaces in São Paulo. The park, established in 1976 on the old Fazenda do Carmo, has an area of 1.5sq.km/370 acres, making it comparable in size with Ibirapuera Park. It contains children's playgrounds, street traders' stalls, an amphitheatre and five lakes (one of them with three islands) inhabited by ducks and geese. The Festa da Cerejeira (Cherry Blossom Festival), a celebration of Japanese origin, is held in the park in July. The paths which run through the park lead into unspoiled areas of woodland in which 210 species of plants, including ten different kinds of cherry-tree, have been recorded. The cherry-trees were introduced into Brazil in 1977, when the country's Japanese colonies celebrated the 70th anniversary of their arrival in Brazil.

The Carmo Park lies on Avenida Afonso de Sampaio e Souza (Rua da Fazenda) and can be reached by way of the streets following the banks of the Rio Tietà, the Radial Leste (East Radial Road) and Avenida Aricanduva.