The 10 Best Museums in Sé, State of Sao Paulo (SP)

Elevated over a concrete platform used for concerts and a weekly crafts fair, the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (São Paulo Art Museum, abbreviated MASP) is itself a work of art; the building is an imposing Modernist box suspended under two bright red concrete supports. Featuring classical European names such as Gauguin, Goya and Gainsborough, the museum also holds one of the largest collections of Brazilian and other Latin American artists on the continent.

Pinacoteca is a museum of visual arts, with emphasis on Brazilian production since the nineteenth century. It belongs to the São Paulo State Secretariat of Culture. It was founded in 1905 by the State Government of São Paulo and it is the oldest art museum in the city. It is installed in the old building of the Arts and Crafts College, designed in the late nineteenth century by the architect Ramos de Azevedo. In the 1990's it underwent an extensive renovation with the architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha's project. Pinacoteca hosts about thirty exhibitions and receives about 450,000 visitors yearly. The museum's main focus is to promote to general public a better experience with visual arts with its collection, building and historical relevance.

taú Cultural is an institute dedicated to the research and production of content as well as mapping, fostering and dissemination of artistic and intellectual expressions. In this way, it contributes to the enhancement of the culture of a society as complex and diverse as Brazil. By considering culture a key tool to the construction of the country's identity and an effective means to promote citizenship, Itaú Cultural seeks to democratize and encourage social participation. A center of cultural reference, for 28 years the institute has been promoting and propagating the Brazilian output - both in and out of the country. Its programs - such as Rumos - as well as its mission and vision emphasize the institute's consistent distinctive features that place it among the most important cultural institutions in Brazil.

Besides telling the history of Brazilian football, the Football Museum, located at Pacaembu Stadium, in São Paulo – foretells Brazil's history. In a playful, fun and very motion way, our visitor is going to understand the reason why football is within all of us. The museum has its visitation routine based on three pillars: emotion, history and on having fun. Pictures, videos, audios and interactivity are the formula that is enthralling visitors. One of the means by narrating such happenings is right from videos, pictures and so on sensorial experiences.

One of the city's many cultural foundations backed by a major Brazilian bank, downtown's CAIXA Cultural offers a rotating mix of international and Brazilian photo and art exhibitions, film retrospectives, concerts and theatrical performances that are always impactful and always free. Recent exhibitions have included French journalist Philippe Castetbon's “The Condemned,” a poignant photography presentation of gay men from countries where their sexuality could mean jail or even death, and the colorfully geometric “visually poetic” works of visual artist Almandrade, from the northeastern state of Bahia.

In 2004 the Pinacoteca de São Paulo entered this other building, at Largo General Osório, which originally housed warehouses and offices. The building was completely renovated by architect Haron Cohen and start receiving part of the Pinacoteca's extensive exhibition program. On the ground floor - that hosted the State Department of Political and Social Order of São Paulo, between the years 1940 and 1983 - is the Memorial da Resistência de São Paulo, a place dedicated to preserve the memories of those who resisted the political repression in Brazil.

Tue-Fri 10am-7pm, Sat 11am-5pm