Mirante do Jaguaré, Heritage site and monument in Jaguaré District, São Paulo, Brazil.
Mirante do Jaguaré is a monument standing at the highest point of the district with views across Vila Leopoldina and Cidade Universitária. The structure was designed as a central element of neighborhood development and remains a defining landmark of the area.
Engineer Henrique Dumont Villares built the monument in 1943 as part of his vision for organized district development. Its construction marked the beginning of a concept intended to structure various functional areas of the neighborhood.
Locals call the tower Farol do Jaguaré, and the clock that gave the square its name ran on German machinery, later stolen along with its bell and hands. In the late 1990s residents formed SAJA, the Sociedade de Amigos do Jaguaré, and cleaned, painted and kept the clock working with their own funds. Bruna Callegari's 2017 short documentary Farol Invisível tells this story.
The tower stands on Praça do Relógio do Jaguaré, on Rua Salatiel de Campos, less than 800 metres from the Pinheiros river. The door to the 84-step spiral staircase is kept locked, so the top is not open for climbing; the square can still be reached on foot. Look for the clock faces on the shaft.
The tower nearly became a simple water tank for the neighbourhood, and in 2013 the bell and the German clock mechanism, including its hands, were stolen after the city took back possession. A spiral staircase of 84 steps leads to the top, now locked with a padlock.
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