Where The
Story Lives

Beginning as a small Jesuit school for the natives in the mid-16th century, São Paulo was, for centuries, a rough frontier outpost, the departure point for expeditions that ventured west to expand Portuguese dominions while also annihilating native settlements. Native attacks, depopulation, and economic stagnation almost destroyed the town several times, until in the late 19th century its history changed: the city became the main gateway between the coast and the large coffee plantations that spread in its countryside, a major railway connection point through which millions of tons of coffee beans and millions of immigrants traveled in opposite directions.

The immigrant labor force was fundamental to transforming São Paulo from a small entrepôt into a major industrial city. The rapid industrialization of Brazil after World War II was centered in São Paulo and its outskirts.

A veritable melting pot created by millions of Italians, Portuguese, Spanish, Germans, Syrians, Lebanese, Poles, and Japanese immigrants, the city became a magnet for internal migration from Brazil's least developed regions, leading to a unique mix of cultures and histories.

São Paulo is the heart of Brazil’s economy: most large Brazilian private companies are based in the city, and the majority of international organizations have their Latin American headquarters in São Paulo. The Brazilian stock market and the bulk of the country’s financial institutions are also located in São Paulo.

The highest-ranking university in Latin America, major research institutions, and world-class medical centers attract the best professionals in the country, as well as entrepreneurs, startupers, artists, thinkers, and revolutionaries.

São Paulo is the Brazilian capital of art and culture: dozens of major museums, two main symphony orchestras, and dozens of dance and theater companies. The city has 120 theaters, 320 movie screening places, and over 23,000 restaurants—the city is a gastronomic mecca. Its LGBTQ+ Pride Parade is recognized as the largest in the world, attracting over 3 million people to the festivities.

São Paulo also has many problems: traffic is a nightmare, subway lines are congested, and a large portion of the population lives in distant suburbs with a standard of living far below that of the leafy areas and fancy neighborhoods. Drug addiction and petty crime are major problems, although the city has a violent crime rate far below the Brazilian average (and significantly below cities such as Houston and Miami).

A city of work and ambition that does not hide behind tourist facades. A place that requires a deep dive into its culture and does not care for Instagrammable scenery.

About a 90-minute drive from Ouro Preto, Congonhas is home to the Unesco World Heritage site of Bom Jesus de Matosinhos, a monumental complex designed and sculpted by Aleijadinho, Brazil’s most important Rococo artist. Aleijadinho means “the little handicapped one”—he was a leper who had to ask his assistants to tie his tools to his arms.

Aleijadinho created 12 life-size statues of Old Testament apostles, which are absolute masterpieces. They carry texts from the Bible heralding the demise of an evil empire—a subtle manifesto for the end of Portuguese domination and exploitation.