Tijuca National Park - Tijuca Forest

Tijuca Forest

The Tijuca Forest, one of the world's largest forest areas within a city (3300 hectares/8150 acres), was planted in the late 1850s on land which had been destroyed by coffee plantations in order to safeguard the springs which supplied Rio de Janeiro with water. By around 1870 it had 60,000 trees, mostly of native species. The main entrance is on Praça Afonso Viseu (Alto da Boa Vista), in which is a fountain by Grandjean de Montigny (1846). It is reached from the Tijuca district on Avenida Edison Passos or Estradas do Sumaré, da Boa Vista, do Redentor (from Corcovado) or das Furnas.