Rio de Janeiro - Cinelândia

Municipal Theatre

The Municipal Theatre (Teatro Municipal; 1909), one of Rio's great landmarks, is modeled on the Paris Opéra. The entrance lobby has doors of crystal glass and a staircase of Carrara marble. The paintings on the curtain and the ceiling of the foyer are by Eliseu Visconti; others are by Rodolfo Amoedo. A notable feature is the tile-clad Assyrian Hall on the lower floor.

The Museum of Folk Art (Museu de Arte Popular) has material from all over the country - ex-votos, Afro-Brazilian cult objects,

domestic pottery, folk art, etc. The Museum also has a library and puts on frequent special exhibitions.

The Palácio do Catete (Rua do Catete, in Flamengo Park), from 1897 to 1960 the seat of the President of the Republic, now houses the Museum of the Republic (Museu da República). This neo-classical mansion was built in 1858-66 for the Baron of Nova Friburgo. The room which attracts most attention is the one in which President Getúlio Vargas committed suicide.

National Library

The National Library (Biblioteca Nacional), in a neo-classical building (1910) on the east side of Avenida Rio Branco, is the largest and most important library in Brazil. Among its greatest treasures - many of them brought to Brazil by the Portuguese royal family in 1808 - are a Mainz Bible of 1462 and a first edition of Luís de Camões' "Os Lusíadas", the Portuguese national epic.

National Museum of Art

The National Museum of Art (Museu Nacional de Belas Artes; 1908) is also on Avenida Rio Branco. Of particular importance are the Eliseu Visconti Gallery (Brazilian painting of the 19th and 20th centuries) and the Frans Post Gallery (pictures by North and South American artists and works of the Portuguese, French, Dutch, Flemish, Belgian, German and Spanish schools).

In the Passeio Público is a monument to Deodoro da Fonseca. On Praça Floriano (Cinelândia), a short distance away, is a 15m/50ft high monument to Floriano Peixoto.

The Palácio Guanabara or Palácio das Laranjeiras, formerly the residence of the Conde d'Eu and Princess Isabel and later of the President of the Republic (from Hermes da Fonseca to Getúlio Vargas) and now occupied by government offices, is in Rua Pinheiro Machado (reached from the Flamengo Park by way of Rua das Laranjeiras, which meets Rua Pinheiro Machado on Praça Del Prete).

Palácio Pedro Ernesto

The Palácio Pedro Ernesto, also in Cinelândia, was built to house the Brazilian Parliament but is now occupied by the City Council. It has witnessed some of the most important political events in Rio, even after the transfer of the capital to Brasília.

Guinle Park, a small area of woodland with gardens and a children's playground, lies close to Rua Gago Coutinho, also in the Bairro das Laranjeiras (the "Orange-Trees" quarter).