Vila Madalena is an upper middle class neighborhood of the Pinheiros district in the western part of the city of São Paulo, Brazil. The neighborhood is known for its bustling nightlife and its history as a center of São Paulo bohemian culture and art. The neighborhood is filled with dozens of art galleries and studios, an eclectic mix of restaurants and bars and a series of graffiti-covered streets and alleys, and is attracting young professionals.
Die-hard Bohemians unite! Vila Madalena – Vila Madá, for those in the know – is THE place for you. Its bizarrely named streets, such as Aspicuelta (who was a 16th century Spanish priest), Girassol (the sunflower) and Purpurina (glitter), are home to bars with something for everyone: there are “classic” pubs with Portuguese tiles on the walls serving super-chilled draught beer and bean soup. Some are homes away from home for journalists and soccer fans, and there are still those for the gay crowd.
Beco do Batman (English: Batman’s Alley) is the nickname for the area around Rua Gonçalo Afonso and Rua Medeiros de Albuquerque in the Vila Madalena neighborhood of São Paulo.Beco do Batman is a popular tourist destination because of the dense concentration of graffiti that line the streets.
The nickname for the area is attributed to a graffito of the DC comics character Batman which was painted on one of the walls in the 1980s. Local art students began filling the walls with other psychedelic and cubist influenced designs.
Vila Madalena received thousands of tourists during the 2014 FIFA World Cup and there was a corresponding rise in reported incidents of robbery and assault in and around Beco do Batman during the period (2013–2014).
The graffiti of Beco do Batman is now continually renovated and cared for by local community members.
Getting There: Vila Madalena Metro Station
