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Franca is a plateau city in north-eastern São Paulo state, Brazil, famous as the national capital of men's shoes and the capital of Brazilian basketball. Its top sights are the Catedral de Franca, the 1887 Relógio Solar on the main square, the lit Fonte As Quatro Estações, the Capelinha church and the Pedrocão arena.
It began as the Pouso dos Bagres, a drovers' stop on the Caminho de Goiás opened in 1722, and became the parish of Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Franca in 1805, named after governor Antônio José da Franca e Horta. Made a town in 1824, it prospered as a coffee trading post after the Mogiana railway arrived in 1887, then turned to tanning and shoemaking.
With about 365,000 people living at some 1,040 m above sea level, Franca lies 401 km from the city of São Paulo and has a mild, rainy climate. Its cavalhadas horseback pageant has been held without a break since 1831, the Expoagro fair fills the Parque Fernando Costa, and the Filé à JK is its listed signature dish.
Catedral de Franca, the cathedral of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, is the mother church of Franca, São Paulo, on Praça Nossa Senhora da Conceição and the seat of the Diocese of Franca since 1971. Its parish dates from 1805, when building a church for the new freguesia was first authorised.
Relógio Solar de Franca is a sundial on the main square of Franca, São Paulo, built in 1886 and 1887 by the French Capuchin friar Germano de Annecy with local funds. A column over 3 m tall topped by a cube with four dials, it is listed by Condephaat and was restored in 2019 after a storm.
Fonte As Quatro Estações is a sculpture on the Praça Nossa Senhora da Conceição in Franca, São Paulo, ringed by an artificial lake with a lit fountain that gives the square its nickname, Praça da Fonte Luminosa. Its four female figures hold objects that stand for the four seasons of the year.
Antiga Estação Ferroviária de Franca is the old railway station of Franca, São Paulo, opened on 5 April 1887 when the Companhia Mogiana's Rio Grande line arrived. It carried goods and passengers between Franca, Ribeirão Preto and Sacramento and linked the region's coffee farms to big markets.
Capelinha de Franca, the parish church of Nossa Senhora Aparecida, is an eclectic church with neo-Gothic touches in Franca, São Paulo, designed by Italian painter-architect Bonaventura Cariolato and built around 1924. It replaced a hermitage built by Manoel Valim, a freed slave who died in 1920.
Teatro Municipal José Cyrino Goulart is the main performing arts venue of Franca, São Paulo, opened in the 1970s in the same decade as the Ginásio Pedrocão and the city art gallery. Run by the city, it stages plays, musicals and concerts by orchestras through the year.
Observatório de Astronomia de Franca is the city observatory of Franca, São Paulo, in the old Colégio Champagnat complex, a Marist boarding school founded in 1917 and listed by Condephaat in 1997. The complex also holds the municipal library of 58,000 books, a science museum and the city archive.
Casa da Cultura e do Artista Francano is one of the main cultural venues of Franca, São Paulo, alongside the Teatro Municipal and the Museu Histórico José Chiachiri. It hosts the city's annual Feira Literária, which is held together with the Semana do Escritor Francano, a week for local writers.
Ginásio Pedrocão, officially Ginásio Poliesportivo Pedro Morilla Fuentes, is the main sports arena of Franca, São Paulo, opened in 1975 and seating about 7,000. It is the home of Franca Basquete, founded in 1959 by coach Pedro Morilla Fuentes and the record holder with 13 Brazilian titles.
Jardim Zoobotânico de Franca is a botanical garden and nature park in Franca, São Paulo, created as a forest nursery in 1952 and made a zoobotanical garden in 1998. It keeps a gene bank of cerrado and plateau forest plants, grows seedlings for the city's streets and has a native bee yard.
Parque Fernando Costa is the 10-hectare exhibition park of Franca, São Paulo, opened in 1953 for the first farm show, today the Expoagro, and listed by Condephaat in 2013. It hosts about 200 events a year, including the Hallel in July, the cavalhadas in August and the Feira da Fraternidade.
Filé à JK is the signature dish of Franca, São Paulo, named after president Juscelino Kubitschek: filet mignon stuffed with mozzarella and ham, breaded and fried, with fries, breaded banana and rice with egg yolk and peas. A cook from Araxá brought it in the late 1950s, and it was listed in 2013.
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