1898 dam
Water company legacy.
Paulo rsmenezes — CC BY-SA 3.0 br · Paulo rsmenezes — CC BY-SA 3.0 br · Paulo rsmenezes — CC BY-SA 3.0 br · Daniel de Quadros dos Santos — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Paulo rsmenezes — CC BY-SA 2.5 br · Paulo rsmenezes — CC BY-SA 3.0 br · Paulo rsmenezes — CC BY-SA 3.0 br
Saint-Hilaire Municipal Natural Park is a reserve owned by the city of Porto Alegre, though most of its land lies in neighbouring Viamão, where its entrance is on Avenida Senador Salgado Filho. It covers more than a thousand hectares, with 240 for leisure and about 909 under permanent protection. The park was created in 1944 when Porto Alegre bought the assets of the private Porto Alegre Water Company. In 1898 the company had built tanks and a dam here to collect water from six streams, which was treated and pumped to the city, and planted eucalyptus to supply firewood for the pumps. The park is named after the French naturalist Auguste de Saint-Hilaire. It is one of the largest green spaces in greater Porto Alegre, with rich native biodiversity, and receives about 125,000 visitors a year. It has picnic areas and walks among woods and lakes; visit by day, ideally at weekends when families fill it.
Water company legacy.
Among the woods.
The naturalist.
Avenida Senador Salgado Filho 2785, Vera Cruz, Viamão, Rio Grande do Sul
Porto Alegre owns it, but most of it and its entrance are in neighbouring Viamão.