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São Carlos railroad station

The Estação Ferroviária de São Carlos ("São Carlos Railroad Station"), better known as Estação de São Carlos ("São Carlos Station"), Estação da Fepasa ("Fepasa Station"), or Estação Cultura ("Culture Station"), is the old train station located in São Carlos, Brazil. It is on the list of assets of historical interest published in 2021 by the Pró-Memória Foundation of São Carlos (FPMSC).[1]

São Carlos station

Estação Ferroviária de São Carlos
Partial view of the Station's façade
General information
Other namesEstação Cultura
LocationPraça Antonio Prado, s/nº, São Carlos, SP
Coordinates22°1′23″S 47°53′44″W / 22.02306°S 47.89556°W / -22.02306; -47.89556
Managed byCity of São Carlos
Line(s)Trunk line (Jundiaí-Colômbia), line 1 of Companhia Paulista de Estradas de Ferro
Other information
StatusCurrently houses the Museum of São Carlos (Fundação Pro-Memória de São Carlos)
Station codeSP-1208
History
Opened1884 and 1912
Closed15 March 2001 (2001-03-15)
Location
Map

The first São Carlos railroad station was built in 1884 by Rio Clarense (Rio Claro), which Companhia Paulista de Estradas de Ferro demolished to build the current one, inaugurated in 1912.[2]

History

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The original station, inaugurated in 1884, was built by Rio Clarense, that belonged to Major Benedito Antonio da Silva and the family Arruda Botelho of the Count of Pinhal.[3]

When Companhia Paulista de Estradas de Ferro bought it from Rio Clarense in 1892, it demolished the station and built a bigger one in 1908 which was inaugurated in 1912. This was done to accommodate the great movement from the construction of two branches; the branch of Ribeirão Bonito (from São Carlos to Novo Horizonte) inaugurated in 1894 and deactivated in 1969;[4] and the branch of Água Vermelha (from São Carlos to Santa Eudóxia) inaugurated in 1893 and deactivated in 1965,[5] which connected to the trunk line via the station.[6] Today the trunk line is used for maneuvers and the passage of América Latina Logística S/A's (ALL) freight.

It is the largest and one of the most important stations of Companhia Paulista de Estradas de Ferro along with the Campinas station, having a 250-meter long platform, 160 meters of which are in a covered area with a metallic structure.

It served as a railway station until March 15, 2001, when the last passenger train to Araraquara left. Since July 2003, with the complete deactivation of FEPASA, it became home to a cultural center, managed by the city hall.[3][7]

Architecture

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The original building had a façade of exposed bricks, influenced by the English who built the railroad.[8] In 1908, three Italian brothers, Abel, Séttimo, and Bruno Giongo[9] remodeled the building, enlarging the upper floor and elaborating eclectic ornaments. The project was of the Companhia Rio Clarense, together with the Giongo brothers. Besides the station, the complex included old warehouses (to the northwest, in exposed masonry, from 1895)[10] and maintenance workshops (to the south, demolished). To the north, there was also the CIAR Forgery, demolished in the 1960s for the construction of the Quatro de Novembro viaduct. About a dozen other stations were built in the municipality. The São Carlos station operated until 2001 when passenger transport came to an end.[11]

The building is located within the Historic Polygon, with its main façade facing north. It was built in 1884, and reopened in 1908, in an Eclectic style, for Institutional use. It is well preserved. In the 2000s, it became home to the Museum of São Carlos and the Pró-Memória Foundation.[3]

Eclecticism arrived in the city of São Carlos due to the wealth from the coffee cycle and the construction of the railroad, starting in 1884. It was a period of urban expansion in the city. Besides this, a great number of immigrant workers brought with them knowledge of European construction methods, which were being incorporated into the local building practices. Eclectic-style buildings were a symbol of social status.[12]

Property of Historical Interest

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Between 2002 and 2003, the Pró-Memória Foundation (FPMSC), a municipal public agency responsible for "preserving and disseminating the historical and cultural heritage of the city of São Carlos",[3] conducted the first survey (not published) of the "real estate of historic interest" of the city of São Carlos, covering 160 blocks and analyzing more than 3,000 properties. Of these, 1,410 had original architecture from the end of the XIX century and 150 preserved their original characteristics, 479 had significant changes, and 817 were uncharacterized.[13] The names of the categories of buildings on the list have changed over the years. São Carlos station is a "listed building" (category 1) in the inventory of heritage assets of the city of São Carlos, published in 2021 by the foundation.[14] This heritage designation was published in the Government Gazette of the municipality on March 9, 2021. It is part of the historic polygon delimited by the Pró-Memória Foundation, which "comprises the urban network of São Carlos from the 1940s".[15] This is on a map published on its website, where there is an indication of the assets in the process of being protected or already protected by Condephaat (State agency), and assets protected in the municipal sphere (by FPMSC).[16][17]

Cultural significance

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View of the station and the tram in 1918

The Pró-Memória Foundation of São Carlos, also bearing the name Estação Cultura ("Culture Station") (a name given in 2001), has three units; São Carlos' Historical and Public Archive, Historical and Architectural Patrimony, and Research and Dissemination. Besides these, a Maria Fumaça (a Baldwin 4-4-0 locomotive) was restored in 2012 and is displayed in the complex.[18][19][20]

The station and the foundation are open to public visitation, and there are meetings of old railroad workers, nostalgic individuals, and enthusiasts as well as an exhibition of model railroads.[3]

On August 30, 2008, the 12th Frateschi Model Railroads Convention took place. More than two thousand people were present at the event, including model railway enthusiasts and business people from Brazil and South America. Ten models were exhibited and about 200 models enrolled for the competition. The event happened on the centenary of the station's renovation work (1908-2008).[21]

Once again São Carlos was chosen to host the 13th Frateschi Ferromodeling Convention, which took place on August 22, 2009, considered one of the largest events of its kind in Latin America.[22]

Benedito Calixto in the Land of Pinhal

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Benedito Calixto in the Land of Pinhal ("Benedito Calixto na Terra do Pinhal") is a permanent exhibition, open to the general public, at the Museum of the Estação Cultura.

The exhibition shows a wide panorama of the life and work of the celebrated Brazilian painter, and eight frescoes, original works made by him for the former Episcopal Palace of São Carlos, that now belong to the collection of the São Carlos municipality.[23]

References

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  1. ^ Fundação Pró-Memória de São Carlos (2021). "Inventário de Bens Patrimoniais do Município de São Carlos" (PDF). Fundação Pró-Memória de São Carlos. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Estação ferroviária de São Carlos".
  3. ^ a b c d e "A Fundação". Fundação Pró-Memória de São Carlos. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Cia. Paulista de Estradas de Ferro (1894-1969)". Estações Ferroviárias. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  5. ^ "Ramal da Água Vermelha". Estacoesferroviarias.com.br.
  6. ^ "O SONHO DA CIA. RIOCLARENSE". Fazendapinhal.com.br. Archived from the original on 2007-09-13.
  7. ^ "Fundação Pró-Memória de São Carlos". www.promemoria.saocarlos.sp.gov.br. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  8. ^ Fundação Pró-Memória de São Carlos. Percursos. vol. 1. São Carlos: FPMSC, 2009.
  9. ^ Bortolucci, Maria Angela Pereira de Castro e Silva (1991-04-04). Moradias urbanas: construídas em São Carlos no período cafeeiro (text thesis) (in Brazilian Portuguese). Universidade de São Paulo.
  10. ^ SÃO PAULO. Decreto n. 294, de 27 de maio de 1895. Approva a planta apresentada pela Companhia Paulista de Vias Ferreas e Fluviaes, de um terreno proximo ao local em que projecta construir um armazem para mercadorias na estação de S. Carlos do Pinhal. São Paulo, 1895. link.
  11. ^ GIESBRECHT, R. M. "Companhia Paulista de Estradas de Ferro". In: Estações Ferroviárias do Brasil. s.d. link.
  12. ^ Divisão de Pesquisa e Divulgação, Fundação Pró-Memória de São Carlos (2006). "RAMOS DE AZEVEDO, ECLETISMO E A POLIGONAL HISTÓRICA" (PDF). Fundação Pró-Memória de São Carlos. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  13. ^ Zamai, Sylvia Beatriz (2008). Valorização do patrimônio cultural de Mogi das Cruzes [Valuing the cultural heritage of Mogi das Cruzes] (Master's degree in Architecture and Urbanism thesis) (in Portuguese). São Paulo: Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie. p. 53.
  14. ^ Fundação Pró-Memória de São Carlos (2021). "Inventário de Bens Patrimoniais do Município de São Carlos" (PDF). Fundação Pró-Memória de São Carlos. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  15. ^ Divisão de Pesquisa e Divulgação, Fundação Pró-Memória de São Carlos (2006). "RAMOS DE AZEVEDO, ECLETISMO E A POLIGONAL HISTÓRICA" (PDF). Fundação Pró-Memória de São Carlos. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  16. ^ Fundação Pró-Memória de São Carlos (2016). "Mapa poligonal 2016 imóveis protegidos" (PDF). Fundação Pró-Memória de São Carlos. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 October 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  17. ^ "São Carlos – Estação Ferroviária | ipatrimônio" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2022-11-03.
  18. ^ "Após restauração, Maria-fumaça histórica é exposta em São Carlos - 01/12/2013 - Ribeirão Preto - Cotidiano". Folha de S.Paulo. 2023-05-25.
  19. ^ "Fundação Pró-Memória de São Carlos". www.promemoria.saocarlos.sp.gov.br.
  20. ^ MARIA Fumaça está sendo transferida da Praça Brasil para a Estação Cultura. São Carlos Agora, 25/06/2012. link.
  21. ^ "Prefeitura Municipal de Campinas". portal.campinas.sp.gov.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  22. ^ "São Carlos sediará o 13º Encontro de Ferreomodelismo da cidade e região | São Carlos em Rede". saocarlosemrede.com.br. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  23. ^ "Exposição no Museu de São Carlos". 123achei.com.br. Archived from the original on 2010-10-25.
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