Luz Station


The Luz Station is the common name for a railway station in the Luz neighbourhood in São Paulo, Brazil. The station is part of the metropolitan rail system run by the CPTM. The station is mostly notable for housing the Museum of the Portuguese Language, established in 2006. The Luz Metro station is also located within the complex.

History

The station was built in the late 19th century with the purpose of being the headquarters of the newly founded São Paulo Railway. In the first decades of the 20th century, it was the main entrance to the city, a fact that gave it a major economic relevance, because the majority of the coffee from Santos was delivered in the station, along with the imported supplies.
The current building was finished in 1901. The materials for its construction were brought from UK. The station was designed and produced by Walter Macfarlane & Co. Saracen Foundry Glasgow. The station was assembled in Glasgow, then disassembled and sent to São Paulo where it was reassembled. The building was designed by the English architect Henry Driver.

Fire

Cultural influence

The station is a remnant from the period when the coffee was a major source of income to the city. For decades, the station tower dominated the city's skyline and its clock was the reference to the other clocks in São Paulo.
At its height, in the early 20th century, when the Luz neighbourhood was an important part of the city, the station was part of an architectonic block that was a major reference inside the city. The station helped to build the city's image.
With the construction of the São Paulo Metro, during the 1970s, the monument to Ramos de Azevedo, a major landmark in the nearby zones, radically changed the image of the landscape, granting, however, a greater sense of monumentality to the station.