Coffee mills
Old machines.
Anderson Bueno Pereira — Public domain · MARCO AURELIO ESPARZ… — CC BY-SA 3.0 · MARCO AURELIO ESPARZ… — CC BY-SA 3.0 · MARCO AURÉLIO ESPARZ… — CC BY-SA 3.0
The Francisco Schmidt Coffee Museum stands on the University of São Paulo campus in Ribeirão Preto, once Brazil's coffee capital, telling the daily lives of the immigrants, enslaved people and coffee barons who made the region's fortune. It was founded by Plínio Travassos dos Santos, who began collecting everything related to coffee with city funds in tribute to the crop. The museum occupies the old main house of the Monte Alegre estate and opened in 1955 named after Francisco Schmidt, the «coffee baron» who owned the estate for many years and was among the world's biggest coffee producers in his day. Its collection includes coffee mills, machines for hulling and processing beans, different types of beans and the tools of daily farm life, and it is protected as city heritage along with its collection. The museum explains the coffee story that built Ribeirão Preto; entry is usually free, and opening times vary between sources, so check before visiting.
Old machines.
Monte Alegre.
The region's wealth.
University of São Paulo campus, Ribeirão Preto
On the University of São Paulo campus, in the old Monte Alegre farmhouse.