Casa Grande
Rammed-earth walls.
Felipe dos Santos Depintor — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ferik80 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Juliana Bruder — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ferik80 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Roger Rosa 2 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ferik80 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ferik80 — CC BY-SA 4.0
Sítio Santo Antônio in São Roque, about sixty kilometres west of São Paulo, is one of the finest surviving bandeirante estates, the farms of the seventeenth-century Portuguese explorers, and is protected as national heritage as a rare example of colonial architecture in Brazil. The Casa Grande was built around 1640 by Fernão Paes de Barros, a major financier of exploring expeditions, on land given by his father. A small chapel went up thirty metres from the house in 1682 at the insistence of his wife, Maria de Mendonça. In the twentieth century the site belonged to the writer Mário de Andrade, who left it on his death in 1945 to the national heritage service as a retreat for artists. The house and chapel have been restored and are shown on guided visits at weekends and on public holidays, with free entry. Check times before going, as they can change.
Rammed-earth walls.
Built 1682.
The writer's legacy.
Countryside of São Roque, São Paulo state
Tours usually run at weekends and on public holidays; check before going.