São Paulo celebrates multicultural heritage at museums and Orthodox cathedral

São Paulo’s identity was shaped by successive waves of migration during the 19th‑20th centuries. The city hosts several institutions preserving and presenting this diversity: the Immigration Museum in the former Immigrants’ Hostel in Brás, the Jewish Museum in the historic Beth‑El synagogue, Japan House offering exhibitions, literary events and culinary experiences, and the Goethe‑Institut in the west. These venues present permanent and temporary exhibitions, libraries, research archives and educational activities that highlight the contributions of Indigenous peoples, Afro‑Brazilians, Japanese, Italians, Portuguese, Syrians, Germans and many other nationalities.

The Orthodox Cathedral of São Paulo, the main seat of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch in Brazil, exemplifies the city’s religious pluralism. Built in a Byzantine style in the early 1940s and recently restored, its marble iconostasis, golden dome and frescoed mezzanines echo the architecture of Hagia Sophia. Restoration work repaired the walls and dome after metro construction altered the original plans.