Caravel replica
The Anunciação.
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Parque Portugal, popularly called the Lagoa do Taquaral, is the best-known park in Campinas, set in the Taquaral district in the east of the city around a large tree-lined lagoon. «Taquaral» means «bamboo grove», and the name Portugal honours the city's large Portuguese community. The land was part of the Taquaral farm and was handed to the city in 1950, but it lay almost abandoned until the mayor approved a large leisure complex in 1969, and the park officially opened on 5 November 1972. Its stars are a replica of the caravel «Anunciação» of Pedro Álvares Cabral and a heritage tram line around the park, opened in 1972 and run with four historic trams. It also has a planetarium, a science museum, a sports hall, an open-air auditorium, a long track for walking and cycling and pedalos. On Sunday mornings the road around it closes to cars for cycling and strolling. In 2007 it was voted one of the Seven Wonders of Campinas.
The Anunciação.
Around the lagoon.
And science museum.
Taquaral district, eastern Campinas
The lagoon, the heritage tram, the caravel replica, the planetarium and pedalos, plus a long walking and cycling track.