Praia de Belas
Praia de Belas is a neighborhood of the city of Porto Alegre, the state capital of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It was created by Law 2022 from December 7, 1959.
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Close to Porto Alegre downtown, Praia de Belas was named after the farmer Antônio Rodrigues de Belas, who constructed a road for the slave trade in 1839, today known as Praia de Belas avenue. The number of dwellers begun to grow when a stone quay was built in 1870, and thus the political authorities decided to expand its area. In 1960, a big portion of Guaíba Lake was covered with landfill and enabled the planned urbanization process. Since then it has been home to innumerable government and public buildings, such as courthouses: the Administrative Centre of Rio Grande do Sul is located here, as well as many courthouses. Moreover, there are two parks in Praia Belas: the Marinha do Brasil Park and Maurício Sirotski Sobrinho Park.
Also, there is located a highly regarded private school of the city, the Maria Imaculada school.