Luz in São Paulo, Brazil

Some of São Paulo's finest museums are to be found a few kilometres north of the city centre in the neighbourhood of Luz. The area is dominated by two striking 19th- and early 20th-century railway stations, the

and

The grandness of the Estação de Luz station, which was completed in 1900, attests to the fact that the city quickly grew wealthy by exploiting its position at the railway junction. By the time the Estação Julio Prestes was built, Britannia no longer ruled the railways. This station was modelled on Grand Central and Penn in New York. In 1999 the enormous 1000-sq-m grand hall was converted into the

, www.guiasp.com.br, or look in a copy of Veja

, the city's premier classical music venues and home to Brazil's best orchestra, the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo.

The city's finest collection of Brazilian art lies 100 m from the Estação da Luz in the

, www.pinacoteca.org.br.

 Here you will find works by Brazilian artists from the colonial and imperial eras, together with paintings by the founders of Brazilian modernism, such as Lasar Segall, Tarsila do Amaral, Candido Portinari and Alfredo Volpi. The gallery also contains sculpture by Rodin, Victor Brecheret and contemporary works by artists such as the Nipo-Brazilian painter Tomie Ohtake. The excellent photography gallery in the basement displays some of the world's greatest black-and-white photographers, many of whom are from Brazil. The museum overlooks the Parque da Luz, a green space dotted with modernist sculpture. Take care in this area after dark.

The Pinacoteca's sister gallery, the

, is just over 500 m west of the Pinacoteca along Rua Mauá, next to the Estação Julio Prestes. It houses 200 of the country's finest modernist paintings from the archive of the Fundação José e Paulina Nemirovsky, including further key pieces by Tarsila do Amaral, Emiliano Di Cavalcanti, Portinari Anita Malfatti, Victor Brecheret and Lasar Segall. International art includes Chagall, Picasso and Braque. There is an excellent air-conditioned café.

Luz's other excellent museum is the

, http://artesacra. sarasa.com.br. Housed in a functioning Conceptionist monastery, parts of which date from 16th century, it is a haven of peace. Displays include works by many of Brazil's masters, including Francisco Xavier de Brito who brought baroque to Brazil, his pupil, Aleijadinho, who carved Minas Gerais's most exquisite churches, Mestre Valentim, who was responsible for some of the finest work in Rio's churches, and paintings by Mestre (Manoel da Costa) Athayde, one of the country's most important 19th-century artists. There is also a haunting Afro-Brazilian São Bento (with blue eyes) and an extraordinarily detailed 18th-century Neapolitan nativity crib comprising almost 2000 pieces; it is the most important of its kind outside Italy.

The district of Bom Retiro used to be a centre for industry, but since the 1960s the factories have been replaced by shops and small businesses. The streets of Jose Paulino and 25 de Marco are packed with bargain clothing stores and wholesalers, and it is one of the city's best areas for budget shopping.

Further afield, the

was designed by

and built in March 1989. Inside, under a glass floor, is a relief map of Central and South America. As well as a permanent exhibition of handicrafts from all over Latin America, there is a photo library, books, magazines, newspapers and films shown on video.

A few blocks west is

, an arts complex, which together with SESC Vila Mariana showcases some of the best medium-sized musical acts in the city - names like João Bosco, CéU and Otto. It is a vibrant place, with a theatre, exhibitions, workshops, restaurant and café, as well as areas for sunbathing and watching television.