Visit: Coffee Museum, Santos, State of Sao Paulo

Built in 1922 to house the world’s main Coffee and Commodities Exchange (Santos was the world’s major coffee trading center at the time), this building of around 6,000 m, is considered one of the most beautiful in the city. Monumental in construction, and boasting more than 200 doors and windows, it has been home since 1998 to the Coffee Museum, whose caf□ is a meeting place for workers in the Historical Center and a must for tourists. The ceiling of the imposing Sala dos Preges (Bidding Hall) is decorated with a stained glass window depicting A viso de Anhanguera (Anhanguera’s Vision), by Benedicto Calixto.

Three huge panels by the same artist adorn the back wall: the central panel, with 153 figures, represents the elevation of Santos to the status of Vila (village) as a dream, with reality in clearly depicted, while the dream of future progress is more nebulous . The smaller side panels depict the artist’s interpretation of the Santos landscape between 1822 and 1922.