Sao Paulo

During the 19th century, the economy of São Paulo was based mostly on agriculture, particularly the plantations of coffee (see History of São Paulo). In the 20th century, the Economy shifted to industrialization and modern agriculture, which caused the decline of most farms, which in turn led to the aging and destruction of the instalations of most of those once glorious farms.

However, a few of those Historic farms were preserved. The owners of thirteen farms gathered together to form an association called Fazendas Paulistas - Farms of São Paulo (click to visit website).

By visiting these farms, tourists can see what life was like back in the 19th century (the oldest farm dates back to the 18th century). The main houses and their architectures were preserved, as well as the buildings were coffee was processed and stored.

Visitors can check in to some of the hotels (some hotels are for daily tours only) and enjoy other services such as horse riding, trekking, fauna and flora observation, enjoying regional food.

To commemorate the aniversary of the city, the Federation of Commerce compiled a report about the Economy of the city of São Paulo; to show the grandness and importance of the city, the report published also data about transportation in São Paulo and some pieces of information about the cultural life in São Paulo.

There are 38,000 restaurants in São Paulo; in London, there are 11,000. There are 5,000 pizzerias.

São Paulo is the third biggest Italian city in the world, the biggest Japanese city outside Japan, the biggest Spanish city outside Spain, the biggest Portuguese city outside Portugal, the third biggest Lebanese city outside Lebanon.

São Paulo is the biggest event center in Latin America, hosting about 70,000 events per year. Out of the 160 biggest Fairs conducted in Brazil, 120 take place in São Paulo. São Paulo has 120 theaters and show houses, 71 museums and 11 cultural centers; 100 plays are performed in theaters every week.

The largest University of Brazil, USP, is in São Paulo; the first School of Law in Brazil was founded in 1827 in São Paulo.

São Paulo is seat of 3 out of the 5 largest Brazilian newspapers; 7 out of the 10 largest book publishers, and 9 out of the 10 magazine publishers. There are more than 205 hospitals in the city.

Museum of Arts of São Paulo, better known as MASP, was robbed on Thursday, December 20th.

Two of the most valuable paintings of the Museum were stolen: Pablo Picasso’s “Portrait of Suzanne Bloch” and Brazilian painter Candido Portinari’s “The Coffee Worker”; the pieces were estimated to value US$ 50 million.

The thieves acted swiftly; the cameras recorded the action, which lasted exactly three minutes, from 5h09 to 5h12 am. The Museum, the most important Museum of Arts in São Paulo and one of the most importants in the Southern Hemisphere, doesn’t have an alarm system; the thieves used a hydraulic jack to prise open the main door and a crowbar to smash a glass door.

The Police are investigating the images, but the camera lacks infra-red capabilities, which degraded the quality of the film; Interpol was called to help; Brazilian newspaper O Estado de São Paulo published the movie of the robbery of Museum of Arts of São Paulo.

The Police suspect that the crime was commited by hired professionals. The thieves knew the vulnerabilities of the security, and knew exactly which pieces to grab.

More info in English: Reuters.

Update January 9th 2008: the Police recovered the paintings. The Civil Police arrested two people and recovered the two paintings which had been stolen from MASP. The two men are ordinary thieves who, according to the Police, had already tryed to rob MASP before; because they were ordinary thieves, the Police suspects that they commited the crime by order of someone else, who is now being chased.