We visited the Atalaia Farm, located approximately 140 km from the capital of the state of São Paulo, in the municipality of Amparo. The Atalaia Farm stands out as an example of history, architecture, culture, and, in short, the identity of São Paulo in its decisive 19th century. The property, which belonged to Pedro Penteado, president of the Banco Industrial de Amparo, dating back to 1870, visually reflects the result of the material culture of coffee. The layout of the farm develops from the yard facing the barn and the headquarters located to the right. Its construction elements, such as the canal roof tiles and the brick paving stones of the coffee yard, whose Roman heritage is the result of a mixture of sand, lime, brick dust, and fragments of stone, and fibers that can also be used as ropes, are an invitation to a historical journey to the origins of São Paulo, made of clay and wood. Despite the attempt to continue growing coffee, the effects of the 1929 crisis ended up favoring the search for new means of survival, a fact justified by the still built after 1940, when the property was managed by Caram José Matta and Zakie José Matta (maternal grandparents of Paulo, the current owner), a family of Lebanese origin who came to Brazil in 1908. The recognition of the potential of the historic spaces of the Farm linked to the preservationist ideas of the management of the heirs Paulo and Rosana, reverberated in the resignification of the respective spaces. Today the old still has given way to a carpentry shop whose woods are used in the architectural recovery and restoration works of the Granary and Headquarters (constructions of Hand-made Taipa and Pilão). The Tulha area is also used for heritage education and rural tourism, hosting schools that experience the process of making cheese, bread and workshops on vernacular construction techniques (Taipa de Mão, Pilão and Adobe), and tourists on weekends and holidays, who can learn a little about its history through breakfast at the farm and a guided historical tour of the property. The change in production to dairy farming, with the raising of Dutch cows for the production of special cheeses, gives the production its uniqueness and originality. As a result, in 2016, it was from there that the first Brazilian product awarded a gold medal at the World Cheese Awards, held in San Sebastian, Spain, came from: Tulha Cheese, made from a dough cooked with type A cow's milk, with low fat content and three types of maturation (8, 12, and 18 months in the old coffee barn). Thanks to the action of fungi, bacteria and yeasts typical of the natural environment of the barn, the cheese has a hard, reddish rind. Its texture is firm like that of parmesan, but it melts in the mouth when eaten, revealing its salty, delicately citrusy flavor, with the presence of crystals reminiscent of passion fruit. It is no wonder that it is used by many chefs and restaurants in São Paulo. Contact Fazenda Atalaia: https://www.fazendaatalaiaamparo.com.br/ / fazendaatalaia Rodovia SP 352 - KM 137,5 - Alferes Rodrigues, Amparo - SP, 13900-000 Cheese Shop and Tasting - Monday to Monday 9am to 5pm Breakfast, Historical Tour and Lunch - Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays Information Meiri Cardoso: (19) 997508129 [email protected] Hello, we are Carlos and Geisa and we have visited many places in our region. We love antiques, old farms and houses, historical settings, always willing to find what history has hidden! Come with us on another adventure!! Our social networks: Instagram: / lugardanossaregiao Facebook: / lugar-da-nossa-regi%c3%a3o-108258217626752 Our products (t-shirt and cap): /