Rua 25 de Março or Rua Vinte e Cinco de Março () is a popular shopping street in the

central zone Central Zone may refer to: Places * Central Indo-Aryan languages, or the "Central Zone" of Indo-Aryan, a language group of India * Central Zone, Bhutan, an administrative district of Bhutan * Central Zone of São Paulo, an administrative zone of th ...

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. The district surrounding Rua 25 de Março has long been synonymous in

with large crowds and discount shopping.

History

Much of the area that is Rua 25 de Março today was originally part of the

Tamanduateí River The Tamanduateí River (in Portuguese: ''Rio Tamanduateí'', ) is a river of São Paulo state in southeastern Brazil. See also *List of rivers of São Paulo List of rivers in São Paulo ( Brazilian State). The list is arranged by drainage basi ...

. A series of

river engineering River engineering is a discipline of civil engineering which studies human intervention in the course, characteristics, or flow of a river with the intention of producing some defined benefit. People have intervened in the natural course and b ...

projects in the late nineteenth and earlier twentieth centuries realigned the Tamanduateí and Anhangabaú rivers, moving the river and the port further to the east. The old port, Porto Geral, lends its name to one of the major cross streets of 25 de Março, Ladeira Porto Geral. The original street name, "Rua de Baixo", refers to the low (''baixo'') position of the land in comparison with the streets uphill to the west. In 1865 the name change was changed to commemorate the date of

's first

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

, signed on 25 March 1824. Waves of

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ern immigrants arrived at the port and settled in the area during the latter half of the nineteenth century. In 1887 Lebanese immigrant Benjamin Jafet opened the first store on Rua 25 de Março. Other merchants began opening their own shops and the area grew. During the 1960s the area suffered with frequent flooding, which damaged the merchandise. The resulting necessity to sell large quantities of inventory quickly and at deep discounts established Rua 25 de Março's reputation as a center for

wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

pricing. By the 1980s other immigrant communities from

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, and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

began to open up shops on 25 de Março and neighboring streets. The commercial activity in the area had expanded to include more than wholesale shops by the end of the twentieth century.

Present day

The area between the

São Bento Monastery The Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat (), more commonly known as the Mosteiro de São Bento (Monastery of St. Benedict), is a Benedictine abbey located on the Morro de São Bento (St. Benedict Hill) in downtown Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Manner ...

and the Municipal Market along Ladeira Porto Geral, as well as the street itself and other smaller side streets is commonly referred to by locals as Rua 25 de Março. There are three main shopping malls in the area: The Shopping 25 de Março (''25th of March Mall''), Shopping Oriental (''Oriental Mall'') and the most famous Galeria Pagé (''Pagé Gallery'') and at the streets you can find a lot of stores with a miscellaneous kind of products, including tennis shoes, toys, packaging, jewelry, bags, and stationery. Most of these stores sells only in bulk and low prices, so many stores owners from far districts or other cities come to this place to buy goods for resale. Also end user consumer can buy goods, but at higher prices.

Crime

Brazil taxes on electronics are high, but these items can be found on 25 de Março for relatively low prices. However, the area has been subject to raids by the police for tax irregularities and

counterfeit A counterfeit is a fake or unauthorized replica of a genuine product, such as money, documents, designer items, or other valuable goods. Counterfeiting generally involves creating an imitation of a genuine item that closely resembles the original ...

goods. Every year, Federal Police and Brazilian Customs make arrests in the 25 de Março area, especially the Galeria Page and Shopping 25 de Março. They confiscate smuggled or unauthorized products and close the stores who are selling these products. Violence, fatalities and serious crime are rare in the district. However, pickpocketing is frequent due to the large crowds of shoppers that come to the area.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:25 de Marco, Rua Streets in São Paulo Central Zone of São Paulo Tourist attractions in São Paulo Shopping districts and streets in Brazil