Ministério do Turismo

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Basic information

Climate
The average annual temperature in Porto Alegre is below 19.5° C, with minimums ranging from 2° C to 15° C during the coldest periods, and maximums ranging from 21º C to 24º C in the warm weather.

Events

Bookfair
Books on exhibition and book sales, an autograph afternoon with the authors, lectures, literary parties, and even plastic arts exhibitions. It is held always during the second fortnight of November, at Praça da Alfândega.

Farroupilha Week
Musical and dancing shows from the Pampas region, typical foods, and a traditionalist parade. This event always takes place from September 13th to 20th.

Expointer
An 8-day cattle raising and agribusiness fair. It is always held between August and September, in the municipality of Esteio, 24 km away from Porto Alegre.

Latin American Handicraft Fair
Representatives from over 13 countries gather here for an annual arts & crafts fair. Arts & crafts and antiques are exhibited on Saturdays, at 5ª Avenida Centre and, on Sundays, at “Brique da Redenção” (Handicraft Fair).

City facts

Porto Alegre
State: Rio Grande do Sul
Region: Southern
Population: 1,360,590 inhabitants
(DDD - Long Distance Code): (51)

Distances
From Brasília: 2,121 km
From Florianópolis: 469 km
From Curitiba: 711 km
From São Paulo: 1,123 km
From Rio de Janeiro: 1,578 km
From Belo Horizonte: 1,731 km

Accommodation / Restaurants

Porto Alegre is more than prepared to welcome every kind of domestic and foreign tourists. There are all kinds of lodging, to meet all demands and budgets. The gastronomic features are given similar attention: there are countless options – but the favourite dish will always be the famous "gaucho" barbecue (churrasco), accompanied by the inseparable gourd of chimarrão. Learn more about the city’s lodging and restaurant options by accessing the following web sites:

http://www.portoalegre.rs.gov.br/turismo
http://www.portoalegre.tur.br/hoteis.htm
http://www.portoalegre.tur.br/restaurantes.htm

How to get there

Main access highways: The capital city of the “gauchos” is connected by BR-290 and BR-116 federal highways to other Brazilian States as well as with Uruguay and Argentina.
Air Access: The Porto Alegre City Airport receives daily flights from Brazilian capital cities and other Mercosur countries.

Services

Tourist information: +55 0800 51 7686

Coach station: +55 (51) 3225-0677

Salgado Filho International Airport: +55 (51) 3358-2000

Bank Branches
Porto Alegre has branches from every large Brazilian bank and some international ones.

Related links

http://www.portoalegre.rs.gov.br/turismo

http://www.portoalegre.tur.br/

http://www.poaconvention.com.br/

http://www.poasite.com/

http://www.turismoportoalegre.com.br/

http://www.wcams.com.br/

http://www2.uol.com.br/guiapoa/

http://cidades.terra.com.br/poa/0,,,00.html

http://www.portoimagem.com/

http://www.mre.gov.br/cdbrasil/itamaraty/web/ingles/divpol/sul/rs/palegre/

Attractions

Porto Alegre City Hall – “Paço dos Açorianos” (The Palace of the Azoreans)
Ornamented in neoclassic style, its construction was started in 1898. Across the City Hall is the “Fonte Talavera de La Reina”, a gift from that Spanish colony in 1935, during the celebration of the centennial of the Farroupilha Revolution. The sculptures embellishing the façade stand for Economy, Education, and Politics. It became a historic site in 1979. The city’s centre milestone is there. The city hall lies at Praça Montevidéu, 10, Downtown.

Central Public Market
It was inaugurated in 1869, but the second floor was only completed in 1913. Between 1995 and 1996 it underwent extensive refurbishment, which modified its internal structure and renovated its external façade. Its more than one hundred stores offer spices and typical products of the gaucho culture. Restaurants, cafeterias, and ice cream shops supplement the offer of goods and services. It became a historic landmark in 1979. It lies at Glênio Peres Square, Downtown – XV de Novembro Plaza.

Chalet of the XV de Novembro Plaza
Located along the Glênio Peres Square, it is one of the most traditional bar-draft beer-restaurants in the city, where the last “lambe-lambe” photographs of the region work. [“Lambe-lambes” are photographers who develop pictures outdoor using the oldest method known.] In the Bavarian style, with art nouveau traits, the centenary Chalet was built up on a collapsible steel structure, and still flaunts its original chandeliers and tiles. It is located at XV de Novembro Plaza, Downtown.

Glênio Peres Square
Inaugurated in 1922, it hosts artistic, cultural and political manifestations. The paving is a replica of the picture existing in front of the City Hall building during the 30’s, similar to a Persian carpet comprised by grey basalt flagstones and Portuguese black, white, and pink stones. This is where the J.G. Brill model Streetcar, used during that very decade, is exhibited.

Post and Telegraph Offices
Built at the beginning of the 20th. century, the building exhibits features of Germanic baroque architecture. Bronze-domed asymmetric towers recall the helmets worn by the Prussian army. At the centre of the building is Atlas, a character of Greek mythology who was convicted to bear the world upon his shoulders. A female figure representing the old continent and the figure of an adolescent boy, simulating the new continent, comprise the ensemble. It was declared a historic landmark by the National Historic Site Office in 1981 and it is at Alfândega Plaza, in the city centre.

Museum of Art of Rio Grande do Sul – MARGS
Built in a predominantly neoclassic style, the building was designed by German architect Theo Wiederspahn. Originally, it was the headquarters of the Fiscal Surveillance Agency of the Federal Revenue Office. Nowadays, it hosts the largest collection of works in Rio Grande do Sul, many of which were created by renowned local, national, and foreign artists. The internal spaces are illuminated through “vitraux” (artistic stained windows) embellishing the ceiling of the main. The building became a historic landmark by the National Historic Site Office in 1983 and it is at Alfândega Plaza, Downtown. You may visit it from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Arquipélago (Archipelago)
Guaíba Lake receives water from Jacuí, Caí, Sinos, and Gravataí Rivers. On the islands, which are the result of the meeting of these waters, the "Delta do Jacuí" (Jacuí Delta) State Park was created in 1976. The archipelago is comprised of 28 islands, most of which are not inhabited. There, some 329 vegetal specimens, 108 kinds of birds and over 20 species of fish thrive, in addition to hundreds of other animals. Some islands are connected to the continent by the Regis Bittencourt Crossing – the well-known "Ponte do Guaíba” (Guaíba Bridge). Grande dos Marinheiros, Pavão, Flores, and Pintada islands shelter a population of 15-thousand people. The islanders live on waste recycling and fishing, and also produce handicraft.

Ilha da Pintada (Pintada Island)
Ilha da Pintada is part of the group of islands comprising the Delta do Jacuí State Park. Currently, craft fishing is the most representative economic activity in the place. Its population descends from Azorean immigrants.

Guaíba
The sunset, as seen from the Guaíba Lake, blankets the city with golden lights. Every day enthusiasts wait at twilight for this spectacle of nature, along its 72 km of shoreline.

Morros (Hills)
A ring of granite hills aged 730 million years borders Porto Alegre, occupying 65% of the city area. The hills are part of the Southern Rio Grande Shield - a triangular platform 48 thousand sq. km long, originated from rocks which melted under intense pressure and heat inside the Earth, and then emerged, rising as high as the mountains. Nowadays, spalled and cracked by the erosion of million of years, small round-topped hills are formed and are predominant in the gaucho capital’s landscape.

Morro Santana (Santana Hill)
It is the city’s highest peak. Over half of its extension – about one thousand hectares – is owned by the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. At its 311 meters high are native forests and fields, waterfalls, swamps, marshes, lakes, brooks, and cascades. A unique landscape.

Morro do Osso (Osso Hill)
It is located between the Tristeza, Camaquá, and Ipanema districts. From the top of its 143 meters, with an over 200-degree panoramic view, one can see the Guaíba Lake, Ipanema Beach, Downtown Porto Alegre, and a few hills. A share of this Hill lines off the Osso Hill Natural Park, which will soon be expanded. The park has a head office with an auditorium for educational activities, forester services, and an environmental educational program.

Morro São Pedro (São Pedro Hill)
It lies between the Restinga and Lami districts. From its 289 meters high, it is possible to see part of the city’s Southern Zone, Lami Beach, and Itapuã Lighthouse. With over one thousand hectares, it has several clean and preserved stream fountains. There you can find four basic vegetal formations: clean field, with tripping vegetation; dirty field, with clumps of shrub and semi-shrubby vegetation; the gallery forest, which flows across the brooks; and pluvial subtropical wood or forest. In addition to campo flickers, partridges, “sabiás”, southern house wrens, and sparrow hawks, other animals in danger of extinction, as auburn monkeys, live in this hill.

Morro Santa Teresa (Santa Teresa Hill)
Located at Santa Teresa District, this hill is 148 m above sea level, providing a panoramic view of the shores of Guaíba Lake along the “Marinha do Brasil” and Maurício Sirotsky Sobrinho (Harmonia) parks. From Ruy Ramos belvedere, at the hilltop, it is also possible to see some of the archipelago islands, the “Usina do Gasômetro” (Gasholder Plant), and Downtown Porto Alegre. Santa Teresa is known for sheltering several TV and radio stations, this being the reason why the population nicknamed it as "TV Hill".

Botanical Gardens
With an area of approximately 43 hectares, the Botanical Gardens are in the district named after it, between Cristiano Fischer Avenue and Salvador França Avenue. It harbours scientific collections with over two thousand issues, 725 vegetal species, spread over the different open areas of the park. It also has a Germplasm Bank, a Seed Bank and a Sapling Terrarium, in addition to developing environmental educational activities. The Natural Sciences Museum is headquartered at the Gardens and preserves flora and fauna species from the State Natural Heritage.

Farroupilha Park (Redenção)
It is located in the Farroupilha District. Its 370 thousand sq. meters of extension hosts 45 copper and marble monuments, a luminous fountain and the “O Expedicionário" (The Expeditionary One) monument, representing a double Triumph Arch with relief sculptures which are a homage to Brazilian soldiers who fought in Italy during the World War II. It also hosts a mini-zoo, an amusement park for children, a solar retreat, a market, football and bowling fields, cycleways, athletic sports track, gymnastics equipment, and an auditorium for 4,500 people. On Sundays, the Brique da Redenção Fair takes place.

Maurício Sirotsky Sobrinho Park (Harmonia Park)
Located at Cidade Baixa District, it occupies 300 thousand sq. meters, hosting in its area a replica of a traditional gaucho farm - the Harmonia Ranch -, designed to maintain and practice the regional culture. It also has an aero modelling track, a nautical modelling tank, playground, football and bowling fields, volleyball courts, and over 100 barbecue grills available in different areas of the park.

Saint Hilaire Park
Located on RS-040 highway, at about km 02, this park is 17 km away from Downtown Porto Alegre. It occupies 11.8 sq. km, 240 hectares of which are designed for leisure and 940 hectares reserved for permanent conservation. Its name is a homage to scientist Augustin François César Prouvençal de Saint-Hilaire, an internationally renowned French traveller and naturalist who lived in Brazil for many years. The park infrastructure has football fields, bowling fields, volleyball courts and indoor football fields, aero modelling and skating tracks, a playground and approximately 100 barbecue grills.

Mascarenhas de Moraes Park
Officially created in 1984, the park has a total area of 182,383 sq. meters. In addition, it has an eco reserve of approximately 6 hectares, inhabited by many flora and fauna species. The Southern Wing of the park has a playground and three volleyball courts; in the central part are the park administration office, football and bowling fields, volleyball courts, indoor football courts and multipurpose courts and fields. Mascarenhas de Moraes Park is at Humaitá District.

Chico Mendes Park
It pays a homage to preservationist Francisco Alves Mendes Filho, commonly known as Chico Mendes, the union leader of rubber tappers and a great defender of the Amazon forest, murdered in 1988, in Acre State. The park occupies 247 thousand sq. meters and it is located in an urban area at the consolidation stage. It has a forest of eucalyptuses and a small eco-reserve comprised basically of native trees, which ensures the survival of several species of the avifauna. It also has a volleyball court, a basketball court, two football fields, three bowling fields, table games, gymnastics equipment, cooper lanes, rest rooms, a playground, and an area with barbecue grills. The Chico Mendes Memorial and the outdoor amphitheatre are designed for ceremonies and cultural events.

Parque Marinha do Brasil (The Brazilian Navy’s Park)
It occupies an area of 715 thousand sq. meters at Praia de Belas District. From there one can admire the waters of Guaíba Lake. Sports enthusiasts enjoy the park very much due to its infrastructure – it has four tennis courts, five multipurpose courts, a football field, six indoor football fields, an athletic sports track, a skating track, a skateboard track, nine sand football fields, a velodrome and gymnastics equipment. Bicycle and quadricycle rental is also available. It also has a playground and a small amusement park. Out of its total area, 11 hectares represent forests and grass-covered spaces where there are many native trees and exotic species.

Parque Moinhos de Vento (Moinhos de Vento [Windmills] Park)
It covers 115 thousand sq. meters and offers sports infrastructure with a football field, tennis court, bowling field, gymnastics equipment, skating track, multipurpose courts, and athletic sports tracks. The Park administrative head offices were built in the shape of an artificial windmill disguised under a small cascade. Turtles, geese, drakes, and fish survive at the site. The avifauna becomes more abundant in the fruiting period of trees and shrubs within the park. There is also a library for children, containing one thousand books, especially devoted to ecologic literature. The Park lies in the Moinhos de Vento District.

Lami Biological Reserve
The city has a Biological Reserve 170 hectares long within its territorial limits. Lami Biological Reserve shelters a meteorological station and a terrarium of native saplings. The diverse atmospheres enable growing over 300 vegetal species and a higher number of animal species; the swamps and reeds are home to many aquatic organisms.

Historic Buildings
Porto Alegre is a huge outdoor architectonic museum. The different styles are concentrated especially downtown, recording on the buildings the influences, which marked the capital city’s golden days. Therefore, walking across the narrow streets of the historical centre, one may see buildings with baroque features – as the “Casa da Junta” – sharing the space with the modern architecture of Farroupilha Palace – a place that today hosts the State Legislative Assembly.

Monuments
The monuments of the gaucho capital city may be seen in several points throughout the city. They are exhibited in public spaces, as the Júlio de Castilhos Monument, at Praça da Matriz (Main Church Square), embellishing the façade of public buildings, as the collection of statues adorning the Old City Hall, at Praça Montevidéu. Porto Alegre also has a series of modern works, such as the Monument to the Azoreans, located across the “Ponte de Pedra" (Stone Bridge).

Cultural Centres
Porto Alegre offers large spaces for shows, as the "Anfiteatro Pôr-do-Sol” (Sunset Amphitheatre) on the shores of Guaíba Lake, or areas for qualified exhibitions, as the rooms of Mário Quintana House of Culture and the Gasholder Plant.


Shopping

Brique da Redenção (Handicraft Fair)
It sells from old objects to regional handicraft and plastic arts. Furthermore, it has become a meeting point for Porto Alegre’s youth. It is at José Bonifácio Avenue, inside the Farroupilha Park. It is open every Sunday, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.