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Bauru is a railway city in the interior of São Paulo state in southeastern Brazil, about 326 kilometres northwest of the state capital, famous for its historic railway junction and for giving its name to the bauru, one of Brazil's best-loved sandwiches. Founded in 1896, it boomed after 1906 when the Noroeste do Brasil railway set out from here towards Mato Grosso.
That railway past is still on show at the grand 1939 station and the regional railway museum next to it, while the Museu Histórico Municipal keeps the wider story of the town. The Catedral do Divino Espírito Santo faces the spot where Bauru's first cross was raised, and the modernist Palácio das Cerejeiras and the eclectic Palacete Pagani show off the wealth of the coffee and railway years.
Bauru is also a green, easy-going university city. The Calçadão da Batista is its lively pedestrian street, Parque Vitória Régia hosts concerts on a floating stage, and on the edge of town the municipal zoo, the botanic garden and the Horto Florestal protect patches of cerrado and forest.
The Museu Ferroviário Regional de Bauru opened in 1989 beside the railway station in central Bauru. Set in an early 20th-century building once used as offices of the Noroeste do Brasil railway, it displays paintings, photographs, documents, tools and models from the great age of railways.
The Estação Ferroviária de Bauru was the starting point of the Noroeste do Brasil railway. A simple wooden station opened in 1906, and the present grand building followed in 1939. The last long-distance passenger trains left in 2001, and the station now belongs to the city of Bauru.
The Museu Histórico Municipal de Bauru was created by law in 1960 and finally opened in 1988. Its collection of photographs, newspapers, documents, furniture, machines and tools traces the growth of Bauru from a small frontier village to a railway and industrial city.
The Catedral do Divino Espírito Santo is the cathedral of Bauru, facing Praça Rui Barbosa in the city centre. It faces the spot where a cross was raised around 1886, the first sign of religious life in the village, and became a cathedral when the Diocese of Bauru was created in 1964.
The Palácio das Cerejeiras is the city hall of Bauru, designed in 1953 by architect Zenon Lotufo and opened in the 1960s. Its brise-soleils, glass panels and pilotis make it a landmark of modernist architecture, and the cherry-tree square around it honours the region's Japanese immigrants.
The Calçadão da Batista is the pedestrian mall on Rua Batista de Carvalho, one of the first streets opened in Bauru in the late 19th century. Closed to traffic in 1992 along seven blocks, it is lined with shops, palm trees and 70 iron arches, and stays busy all day long.
The Palacete Pagani is an ornate eclectic building of 1929 on Rua Batista de Carvalho in Bauru, built for four brothers of the Pagani family. Shops filled the ground floor and the family lived above, a typical pattern of the time, and the richly decorated facade was listed in 2003.
The Bauru sandwich was created in 1937 at the Ponto Chic bar in São Paulo by a law student from Bauru, Casimiro Pinto Neto, nicknamed Bauru. Made with roast beef, melted cheese, tomato and pickled cucumber in a French roll, it is registered as cultural heritage of Bauru.
The Parque Zoológico Municipal de Bauru opened in 1980 on the edge of the city and is known for its work breeding Brazilian wildlife. In 2013 it became the first zoo in Brazil to breed penguins, and its shady grounds and environmental education centre welcome many families.
The Jardim Botânico Municipal de Bauru opened in 1994 and covers 321 hectares, mostly cerrado with patches of forest and wetland. Trails lead past collections of orchids, bromeliads, ferns, bamboos, palms and medicinal plants, and a visitor centre explains the park's ecosystems.
The Horto Florestal de Bauru is a 50-hectare forest reserve on the edge of Bauru that serves as an experimental research station. Its tall stands of pine, eucalyptus and native trees make it a cool, shady green space for a quiet walk not far from the busy city centre.
Parque Vitória Régia is one of the best-loved parks in Bauru, on Avenida Nações Unidas in the city centre. Designed in 1976 by architect Jurandyr Bueno Filho, who was inspired by the Greek agora, it is known for its acoustic shell and floating stage, where free concerts are held.
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Log in to add photosPhoto: Governo do Estado de São Paulo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
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Photo: EricaAzzellini, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
