Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Campo de Santana and around
Praça da República • Daily 6am-5pm • Free •
M
Central
West of the historial centre, between Avenida Presidente Vargas and Rua Visconde
do Rio Branco, the
Campo de Santana
is the nearest thing Rio has to a city-centre
park. Originally located outside the city limits, which extended only as far as Rua
Uruguaiana, its sandy and swampy soils made it unsuitable for cultivation and the only
building here was the chapel of St Domingo, sited in the area now covered by Avenida
Presidente Vargas and used by the Fraternity of St Anne to celebrate the festivals of
their patron saint - hence the name, Campo de Santana (Field of St Anne).
By the end of the eighteenth century, the city had spread to surround the Campo de
Santana, and in 1811 an army barracks was built, the soldiers using the field as a parade
ground. It was here that Dom Pedro I proclaimed Brazil's independence from the
Portuguese Crown in 1822, and after 1889 it took the name
Praça da República
, which is
still used to denote the streets east and west of it; the first president of the new republic,
Deodoro da Fonsceca, lived at Praça da República no. 197. At the start of the twentieth
century, the field was landscaped, and today it's a pleasant place for a walk, with lots of
trees and small lakes ruled by swans, while agoutis scurry about on the grassy areas.
Directly across Avenida Presidente Vargas is the Praça Duque de Caxias and the
Panteão
Nacional
, on top of which stands the equestrian statue of the Duque de
Caxias, military patron and general in the Paraguayan War - his remains lie below in
the Pantheon. Nearby, the
Dom Pedro II train station
- known more commonly as the
Central do Brasil - is an unmistakeable landmark, its tower rising 110m into the sky
and supporting clock-faces measuring 7.5m by 5.5m.
1
Museu Histórico e Diplomático do Itamaraty
Palácio do Itamaraty, Av Marechal Floriano 196 • Mon-Fri 9am-4pm • Free •
T
21 2253 2828 •
M
Central
Just beyond the station, the
Palácio do Itamaraty
is one of Rio's best examples of
Neoclassical architecture. Completed in 1853 as the pied-à-terre of the great landowner
Baron of Itamaraty, it was bought by the government and became home to a number
of the republic's presidents. The
palácio
now houses the
Museu Histórico e Diplomático
do Itamaraty
, a repository of documents, books and maps relating to Brazil's diplomatic
history, its collections primarily of interest to serious researchers. Of wider interest is
the section of the building that has been painstakingly restored with period furnishings
to show how the upper classes lived in the nineteenth century.
Cemitério dos Ingleses
Rua da Gamboa 181 • Mon-Fri 8am-4pm • Free •
T
21 2233 4237
North of Itamaraty is the extremely seedy port area Gamboa, one of the oldest parts of
Rio and home to its first
favela
. Right alongside is the strangely beautiful
Cemitério dos
Ingleses
, or English Cemetery; it's
the oldest Protestant burial site in the country, dating
from 1809, when the British community was given permission to establish a cemetery
and Anglican church in Rio - essential if English merchants were to be attracted to the
newly independent Brazil. Still in use today, the cemetery is set in a dramatic hillside
location looking down to Guanabara Bay. The inscriptions on many of the stones make
poignant reading, recalling the days when early death was almost expected.
Cidade do Samba
Rua Rivadávia Correia 60, Gamboa • Tues-Sat 10am-5pm (please note that visits were suspended at time of writing so hours and prices
may change); Carnaval season parades Thurs 9pm • R$10; Carnaval season parades R$150 including buffet dinner •
T
21 2213 2503,
W
cidadedosambarj.com.br
There's long been talk about developing Gamboa's dockside area, but until recently
little has been done apart from turning some of the
armazéms
(warehouses) into
temporary centres for performing-arts events. The one enduring project has been the
Cidade do Samba
, a vast complex where Rio's fourteen top samba schools practise and
