SQUARES AND PARKS

Urban recreational spaces

MAL SQUARE.

FLORIANO PEIXOTO

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CATHEDRAL SQUARE

Given its history and the collection of works it features, this square should be considered a monument. It is home to the Obelisk to the City’s Founders, the Sesquicentennial Monument, the Monument to the Bible, and the Cathedral of Sant’Ana.

The Sesquicentennial Monument, built to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Ponta Grossa’s elevation to the status of a parish, is a very interesting structure whose shape represents the number 150. The number 1 is represented by the central obelisk, atop which stands the main flagpole; the number 5, made of reinforced concrete, is arranged as if drawn on the ground in high relief, and along its curve is a mural with bas-relief designs recounting the history of Ponta Grossa’s development, from its indigenous inhabitants to its current progress. Also on this same mural, at the top of the number 5, there is a bronze plaque inscribed with the year Ponta Grossa was elevated to the status of a parish.

Barão

do Rio Branco Square

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Ponto Azul Square

For many years, Ponto Azul served as the boarding and alighting point for Ponta Grossa’s city buses, and its origins date back to the 1950s. It was a two-story building that also housed a snack bar, a candy shop, a shoe-shining stand, and other services.

Around the building, a canopy sheltered passengers as they waited for or got off the buses. As the city grew and the need for new bus routes arose, the bus stop was relocated to Barão de Guaraúna Square and Barão do Rio Branco Square, respectively.

In the 1970s, the site was demolished, remaining only in people’s memories, who still refer to the location as Ponto Azul. For this reason, in 2004, the Ponto Azul Memorial was inaugurated at the same site. Among other features, it includes a panel that commemorates the area’s identity in 1958 as a gathering place for the Ponta Grossa community, thereby preserving an important landmark in the city’s history.

SQUARE

sunset

Located on Visconde de Nácar Street, the square was named “Pôr do Sol” because of its view, and is unique in that it was built using 90% recycled materials from other sites. These include trees that fell in various places, tires retrieved from streams, metal scraps from the construction yard, and leftover lumber from other projects… What was once used as a debris dump is now a symbol of sustainability.

The square features a lookout point, a playground, an outdoor fitness area, a sand volleyball court, decorative pergolas, a wooden kiosk, benches, a 200-meter children’s BMX track, a 300-meter walking trail, and a parking lot. Another innovative feature of the site is a “chimarródromo,” built out of wood.

Originally used as a construction debris dump, construction on the new square began in 2017. More than 30 truckloads of construction and residential waste, as well as tree trimmings, were removed from the site. The structure was designed with sustainability and innovation in mind.

Barão

de Guaraúna Square

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Polish Square

Barão de Guaraúna Square was originally named Largo São João, due to the construction of the São João Chapel, which, according to some authors, is believed to have been built in the second decade of the 19th century.
With the demolition of the Chapel of São João in the 1950s, the square came to be occupied solely by the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church; however, by that time it was already known as Barão de Guaraúna. This name was adopted in 1913, during the administration of then-Mayor Theodoro Batista Rosas, in honor of Domingos Ferreira Pinto, the Baron of Guaraúna.
Located in the city center, between Vicente Machado Avenue, Balduíno Taques Street, Paula Xavier Street, and Saldanha Marinho Street, Barão de Guaraúna Square is also known as “Praça da Igreja dos Polacos” (Polish Church Square), because the builders and regular attendees of the church were Polish immigrants. Another notable feature of this area was the presence of a cemetery, São João, which was located across from the square, where the Itapuã building now stands. According to the book “Menina dos meus olhos,” some human remains from the old cemetery were still found during the construction of the building.
However, Barão de Guaraúna Square, being a public square, became the center of Princesino’s social and cultural life—a space where popular events and everyday social life

Barão de Guaraúna Square

Squares, as urban monuments, are spaces where social and cultural events take place, thereby creating places for communication and social expression.
In Brazil, many cities began their urbanization by settling around squares and churches. Expanding from these points, they served as landmarks for human settlement. In Ponta Grossa, the starting points were the Church of Sant’Ana and Marechal Floriano Peixoto Square, which marked the beginning of urbanization in the “Princess of the Fields.”
Over time, other squares emerged in the local urban landscape and gradually took on this role as focal points for social interaction. Barão de Guaraúna Square, for example, was originally named Largo São João due to the construction of the São João Chapel, which some authors believe was built in the second decade of the 19th century.
With the demolition of the Chapel of São João in the 1950s, the square came to be occupied solely by the Sagrado Coração de Jesus Church; however, by that time it was already known as Barão de Guaraúna. This name was adopted in 1913, during the administration of then-Mayor Theodoro Batista Rosas, in honor of Domingos Ferreira Pinto, the Baron of Guaraúna.

Located in the city center, between Vicente Machado Avenue, Balduíno Taques Street, Paula Xavier Street, and Saldanha Marinho Street, Barão de Guaraúna Square is also known as “Praça da Igreja dos Polacos” (Polish Church Square), because the builders and regular attendees of the church were Polish immigrants, Another notable feature of this area was the presence of a cemetery, São João, which was located across from the square, where the Itapuã building now stands. According to the book “Menina dos meus olhos,” some human remains from the old cemetery were still found during the construction of the building.
However, Barão de Guaraúna Square, being a public square, became the center of Princesino’s social and cultural life—a space where popular gatherings and everyday social life took place and continue to take place, ensuring that it is, as CHAVES puts it, the “veins through which the life and soul of the city flow,” for it is in the city’s public squares that sociability is realized.

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​SQUARES AND PARKS

SQUARES AND PARKS