- Suggested Itineraries
- The Top Attractions
- Museums & Cultural Centers
- Architectural Highlights
- Beaches, Parks & Plazas
- Rio After Dark
- Everything You Need to know About Carnaval
- Shopping in Rio

HISTORIC BUILDINGS & MONUMENTS

Rio 's a great place for architecture buffs, and an even better place to watch what happens when overconfident urban designers set their hands to the task of urban rnewal. For a city so blessed with mountains, ocean, and historical roots several centuries deep, Rio 's movers and shakers have suffered from a striking sense of inferiority. As a result, various well-meaning Cariocas have since the early 1900s ~.iI:en turns ripping out, blowing up, filling in, and generally reconfiguring huge %vaths of their city in order to make Rio look more like Paris or Los Angeles or, I 'l rely, Miami Beach. The results of these various movements are-for better and ~% urse-now and forever on permanent display.

AROUND CINELANDIA

"Rio Civilizes Itself!" Armed with this slogan and a deep envy of what Baron Haussman had done in Paris, engineer-mayor Pereiro Passos set to work in 1903, ripping a large swath through Rio's Centro district to create the first of the city's grand boulevards, the Avenida Central. So efficient was "Knock-it-down" Passos that the old colonial Rio he set out to demolish can now be found only in the few square blocks around the Travessa do Commercio to the north of Praca XV Accessed via the Arco do Teles-an arch built in 1790 to allow passage through a commercial building facing the square-it's a charming area of narrow cobblestone streets and gaily painted colonial shops, now much missed by civilized Cariocas.

The boulevard Passes created in its stead, however, was also quite graceful. Now renamed the Avenida Rio Branco, it runs from PraSa Maui south past (lie grand neoclassical Igreja de Nossa Senora da Candelaria to what was then r lie waterfront at the Avenida Beira Mar. The four-story Parisian structures that r)nce lined the street are now found only in photographs, replaced by tall and Modern office towers. (Rio Branco remains the heart of Rio 's financial district.) I he best place to witness the handiwork of these turn-of-the-20th-century Pari­.izers is on the Pra5a Floriano, referred to by most Cariocas by the name of its ,ubway stop, Cinel3ndia. Anchored at the north end by the extravagant beaux ut Teatro Municipal, and flanked by the equally ornate Museu de Belas Artes aid neoclassical Biblioteca Nacional, the pra~a beautifully emulates the pro­portions, the monumentality, and the glorious detail of a classic Parisian square. I he Teatro Municipal was in fact explicitly modeled on the Paris Opera House rnd inaugurated on Bastille Day (July 14) 1909. (Visitors can poke their heads into all of these buildings, but the best place to appreciate the square may well he seated at an outdoor cafe enjoying a nice cold draft.)

AROUND CASTELO

The next stage in urban reform came in the early '20s, when a group encour­aged by public health advocate Oswaldo Cruz and backed by a development consortium decreed that that the hilltop castle south of Praca XV had to go; the 400-year-old castle was a breeding ground, they said, for pox, plague, and other infectious diseases. In 1922, the castle was blown up, the hill leveled and­ starting in the early '30s-construction begun on a series of government office towers inspired by the Modernist movement then sweeping Europe . The first of these-then the Ministry of Education and Health but now known as the Pala­ cio Gustavo Capanema (Rua da Imprensa 16; see "Palaces," below)-listed among its architects nearly all the later greats of Brazilian architecture, includ­ ing Lucio Costa, Oscar Niemeyer, and Roberto Burle Marx, with painter Can­ dido Portinari thrown in for good measure. International architects sat up and took note; other less avant-garde government departments commissioned archi­ tects with different ideologies, resulting in a War of the Styles that raged through the remainder of the 1930s. Perhaps the most bombastic counter-volley was the overblown neoclassical Ministerio da Fazenda building (Av. Presidente Antonio Carlos at Av. Almirante Barroso). The resulting enclave of office towers, known as Castelo, lies on the patch centered on the Avenida Presidente Antonio Car­ los. Chiefly of interest to architectural buffs, it should be toured only during office hours.

AROUND CIDADE NOVA

Knock-it-down Passos had nothing on Getulio Vargas. On the national scene the Brazilian dictator was creating a new quasi-fascist political structure called the Estado Novo; in his capital city, he set about creating a Cidade Nova to match. In 1940, on Vargas's personal order, a monster 12-lane boulevard was cut through the city fabric from the beautiful N.S. de Candelaria Church out through the Campo de Santana park to the northern edges of downtown. Anchoring this new megaboulevard was the Central Station (known officially as the Esta~ao Dom Pedro II, it's worth popping in to see the Art Deco interior), a graceful Modern building with a 135m (443-ft.) clock tower that still stands overlooking the city, providing a much-needed reference point in the northern half of downtown. Vargas's plan called for the entire 4km (2.5-mile) street to be lined with identical 22-story office blocks. Cariocas, however, seemed to have a limited appetite for Identi-cubes. Only a few were ever built; they can be seen on the block crossed by Rua Uruguaiana. Even 60 years later, much of the rest of this ultra-wide boulevard remains effectively vacant. As a silver lining, how­ ever, there was lots of space left for architect Oscar Niemeyer to build the Sam­ bodromo, the used-once-a-year permanent Samba Parade Ground. Designed in typically Niemeyer all-concrete style, it stands in the shadow of an elevated free­ way, about lkm (1/2 mile) along Presidente Vargas.

AROUND ATERRO

The next great reconfiguration of Rio came 2 years after the federal capital fled inland to Brasilia . City designers took the huge high hill-Morro Santo Antonio-that once dominated the Largo da Carioca, scooped away the earth and dumped it on the beach from Lapa to Flamengo, creating a vast new water­ front park. On the rather raw spot where the hill once stood there arose the inno­ vative cone-shaped Catedral Metropolitana, and at the intersection of the new avenidas Reptiblica do Chile and Republica do Paraguai, a trio of towering skyscrapers, the most interesting of which is the "hanging gardens" headquarters of Brazil's state oil company Petrobras. On the waterfront park-officially called Parque do Flamengo but most often referred to as Aterro, the Portuguese word for landfill-designers created new gardens and pathways, a new beach, and a pair of Modernist monuments: the Modern Art Museum (MAM) and the impressive Monument to the Dead of WWIL Not incidentally, the park also bears two wide and fast roadways connecting Centro with the fashionable neighborhoods in the Zona Sul.

PALACES

There aren't a lot of true palaces in Rio , for the simple reason that the aristocracy wasn't around long enough to build many. But as if to make up for this lack I palaces, Brazilians have taken to granting any number of grand structures the appellation "palace." The Palacio Tiradentes, Av. Presidente Antonio Carlos s/n Tel: 021/2588-1411), for example, was built in 1926, long after the aristocracy had departed. Located at the back edge of Praca XV, this rather overwrought neoclassical structure was built to serve as the Brazilian Federal Legislature, Ii ich up until then had been meeting in an old jailhouse. Four years after its ,.iuguration, dictator Getulio Vargas overthrew the government and turned the i Lice into his ministry of propaganda. Nowadays the building serves as the legislature for the state of Rio de Janeiro . Visitors can tour the permanent display that runs down the outside corridor of the building, but since the text-heavy exhibit is exclusively in Portuguese, there's probably not much point.

Older and more graceful is the Palaeio Itamaraty (Rua Marachel Floriano), near the Central Station (Tel: 021/2253-7691). Built in the 1850s for a coffee , merchant with the rather grand title of Baron de Itamaraty, the charming neoclassical design-the front has pink walls pierced by granite arches-was )Id to the new republican government in 1889 and long served as the ministry ,t lureign affairs. It has since been converted into the Museum of History and Diplomacy, but this is now closed indefinitely (sem previsao), However, as one samll museum display remains open (again in Portuguese only), you do have an excuse to get past the guard (you have to show ID) and wander back to the gorgous interior courtyard where two ranks of imperial palms flank a long reflecting pond in which jet-black swans swim round.

The most impressive palace in Rio is actually the most modern. Or rather, ipiral .M Modern. Located in the city's office district, the Palicio Gustavo Capenema Rua da Imprensa 16 (no phone), was designed and built from 1932 to 1936 by a team of Brazil 's top architects, then the best practitioners of Modernism in the world. On the team were Oscar Niemeyer and Lucio Costa tic pair who would later design Brasilia ), landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx, and artist Candido Portinari, who did much of the tile work that covers the buildings. Supervising as design consultant was Swiss uber-Modern Le Corbusier. The result can be underwhelming at first, but that's because 70 years later we've seen a lot of things similar. But when this was built, no one had ever done anything like it. The entire structure has been raised on pilings 40 feet off the ground, creating an open, airy plaza beneath. And unlike later Modernists, this team paid attention to the details: The support columns are covered in beautiful l marble, the few ground-level walls in intriguing blue and white tile-many designed by Portinari. Ordinary people enjoy the open space thus created. Architectural fans can stand and admire this building for hours.

CHURCHES & TEMPLES

Rio is awash with churches, with some 20 in Centro alone. Likely the most impressive church in Rio is Nossa Senhora de Candelaria (4~-*, set on a traffic i,land of its own at the head ofAvenida Presidente Vargas (t 021/2233-2324). \ church has stood on the spot since the 1680s, when ship captain Antonia \1atins Palmas endowed a place of worship in thanks for divine rescue during a particularly bad storm. The current very clean and simple neoclassical design dates from a renovation begun in 1775. Particularly worth noting are the huge and ornate cast-bronze doors, the ceiling panels telling the story of the church, and the two large Art Nouveau lamps on either side of the pulpit; they look like cast-iron Christmas trees. Open Monday through Friday from 8am to 4pm and Saturday through Sunday from 9am to noon .

The reason tour guides have for so long suggested going to the Mosteiro Sao Bento (see "The Church That's not Worth the Hike," above), is that the Igreja da Ordem Terceira de Sin Francisco da Penitencia Largo da Carioca (tel: 021/2262-0197), was long closed. Set on a hilltop overlook­ ing Largo da Carioca, this and the Church of Santo Antonio next door form part of the large Franciscan complex in the city center. While both are worth visit­ ing, the Sao Francisco church is simply outstanding: Interior surfaces are filled with golden carvings and hung with censors of heavy ornate silver. Open Tues­ day through Friday 9am to noon and I to 4pm .

On a hilltop all its own is the N.S. de Gloria do Outeiro (*-, which can be accessed via the stairway located next to Rua da Russel 300 (Tel: 021/2557­ 4600). It's unique among churches in Rio , thanks to its octagonal ground plan and domed roof, the design response of Portuguese architect Jose Cardoso Ramalho to a rather small building site. The hill on which it stands was the strategic point taken from an invading French force by the city's founder, Esta­ cio de Sa, paving the way for the settlement of Rio on March 1, 1565 . Open Tuesday through Friday from 9am to noon and 1 to 5pm , and Saturday and Sunday from 9am to noon .

Last and most innovative of Rio 's significant churches is the Catedral Met­ ropolitana 44, Av. Reptiblica de Chile 245 (tel: 021/2240-2669). Some dislike this building, finding its shape disconcerting and its interior dark. I love it. At each of the four cardinal compass points a rectilinear latticework of concrete and stained glass soars upwards, tilting inwards as it rises. Where they meet at the ceiling there's another stained-glass latticework-a cross-shining softly with light filtered in from the sky. The form is ultimately modern; the feeling is soar­ ing High Gothic. Open daily from 7am to 6pm ; Mass is held Monday through Friday at l lam and Sunday at l0am.