Porto Alegre Zoo Villa Diamela in Brazil

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Porto Alegre Zoo Villa Diamela


Local name Zoologico Villa Diamela
Typezoo
Opened for public1913
Closed down1925
Address Avenida 13 de Maio
Place Porto Alegre
Country Brazil
Related persons
Owner 1913-1925: Juan Ganzo Fernández
Key People
Zoological department
Elephant department
Record history
History of updates2023-04-30
Latest document update2023-04-30 02:07:26
Description

Porto Alegre Zoo Villa Diamela, located at Avenida 13 de Maio, in Porto Alegre, Brazil , opened for public in 1913. Porto Alegre Zoo Villa Diamela closed down in 1925.


Comments / picturesOperated from 1913 to 1925. They offered rides on their elephants.

Porto Alegre Zoo Villa Diamela in Brazil Brazil


"Anyone who currently walks along Avenida Ganzo in the Menino Deus neighborhood certainly cannot imagine that it was exactly there, more than a century ago, that the first zoo in Porto Alegre existed.
It so happened that that area was a large farm where Juan Ganzo Fernández – the same man who founded the Riograndense Telephone Company – had lived with his family since 1910. In honor of one of his daughters, Ganzo named the farm “Villa Diamela”. The property faced Avenida 13 de Maio - currently Getúlio Vargas - extending to Praia de Belas, totaling approximately 3.8 hectares.

The house where he lived with his family faced Avenida 13 de Maio and the back of the property was used as a storage area for materials and a garage for his telephone company\'s vehicles.

In 1912, he decided to open a large zoo, in the middle of the farm, and for that, he set up a complete structure that included a large dam - using the two natural sources that existed in the place - in addition to nurseries for hundreds of Species of birds, exotic birds , camel, elephant, monkeys, giraffes, lions, tigers and leopards.

The festive inauguration took place on Saturday, January 4, 1913, with the presence of various authorities, members of the consular body, the President of the State Carlos Barbosa Gonçalves and the Intendant José Montaury de Aguiar Leitão. The blessing of the place was given by Archbishop Dom João Becker.

The zoo had a large influx of public of all ages and social classes since the entrance cost 400 Réis – a very popular price – and was only readjusted in 1921 to Hum mil Réis.

Ganzo did a lot of publicity for the zoo, both in newspapers and magazines. In the center, the image of the metallic ticket at the entrance, when it still cost 400 réis.

The zoo was an almost mandatory visit for people coming from other locations, as well as authorities, politicians and members of the consular body, all of whom were received personally by Juan Ganzo.

Whenever a new animal arrived at the zoo, it was announced by the press with great fanfare, thus arousing a lot of popular curiosity.

For many years, mainly on Saturdays and Sundays, the Companhia de Força e Luz increased the number of trams on the Menino Deus line, to meet the high public demand for the place.

In 1927, after selling the shareholding control of Companhia Telefônica Riograndense to the Americans from IT&T, Ganzo ended the zoo\'s activities, as he was in negotiations to transfer to Santa Catarina where he would develop telephony in that state through Companhia Telefônica Catarinense.
The animals were all donated to zoos in Buenos Aires and Montevideo.

With the move to the neighboring state, the large farm was divided into lots and the city hall promoted the opening of the charming Avenida Ganzo, which begins at Av. Praia de Belas and ends at Av. Getúlio Vargas, primitive extension of Villa Diamela. It is a fair tribute to a visionary man, who lived and worked among us, being responsible for countless pioneering ventures that generated wealth, development and thousands of jobs."
10th August 2020 by Ronaldo Marcos bastos

References for records about Porto Alegre Zoo Villa Diamela

Recommended Citation

Koehl, Dan (2025). Porto Alegre Zoo Villa Diamela, Elephant Encyclopedia. Available online at https://www.elephant.se/location2.php?location_id=3712. (archived at the Wayback machine)

Sources used for this article is among others:



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