Eclectic house
Layers of change.
AnaSieds — CC BY-SA 4.0 · AnaSieds — CC BY-SA 4.0 · AnaSieds — CC BY-SA 4.0 · AnaSieds — CC BY-SA 4.0 · AnaSieds — CC BY-SA 4.0 · AnaSieds — CC BY-SA 4.0 · AnaSieds — CC BY-SA 4.0
Casa de Dona Yayá is a historic house in the Bixiga district near central São Paulo, now run by the University of São Paulo's Centre for Cultural Preservation. Built in the late nineteenth century, it is a symbol of the eclectic architecture of the city centre and one of the last survivors of the belt of small country estates that once ringed it. The house bears the marks of four major remodellings by five successive owners, but its fame comes from its last resident, Sebastiana de Melo Freire, known as Dona Yayá (1887-1961), daughter of one of the leading families of inland São Paulo, whose life was full of tragedy and who spent decades in seclusion here. Today it hosts exhibitions on the history of Bixiga, the Saracura quilombo and the Vai-Vai samba school, plus Sunday family activities. It opens Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 18:00 (to 20:00 on Wednesdays) and on Sundays from 10:00 to 13:00, and is closed on Saturdays.
Layers of change.
A tragic life.
District memory.
Rua Major Diogo 353, Bixiga, São Paulo
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