Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1
runs along the park for about a kilometre and offers views across the bay to Niterói.
Unfortunately, it's not a place for swimming as the water here is polluted, and of course
it's also not a good idea to wander on the beach or in the park at night.
Botafogo
The bay of
Botafogo
curves around the 800m between Flamengo and Rio's yacht club.
Its name derives, reputedly, from the first white Portuguese settler who lived in the
area, one João Pereira de Souza Botafogo. It is dominated by the yachts and boats
moored near the club, but the beach doesn't have much to recommend it to bathers
due to water pollution. In many of Botafogo's streets there still stand mansions built
in the nineteenth century when the area was Rio's outermost suburb and preserve of
the city's rich. Most of these remaining distinguished buildings have been converted
for use as o
ces or to house museums.
Museu Casa de Rui Barbosa
Av São Clemente 134 • Tues-Fri 10am-5.30pm, Sat, Sun & public holidays 2-6pm • R$2; Sun free •
T
21 3289 4600,
W
casaruibarbosa.gov.br •
M
Botafogo
A short walk from Botafogo
metrô
station, the
Museu Casa de Rui Barbosa
is set amid
a lush garden with well-kept paths and borders. It was built in 1850, and in 1893
became the home of Rui Barbosa (1849-1923), a jurist, statesman and author from
Bahia state who founded the newspaper
A Imprensa
and was a prominent opponent
of slavery and liberal critic of the monarchy. Babosa became finance minister in 1890,
and ran for president twice.
The museum is basically a collection of Barbosa's possessions - beautiful Dutch and
English furniture, Chinese and Japanese porcelain and a library of 35,000 volumes,
among which are two hundred works penned by the man himself. Barbosa conferred a
title on each room in the house - the Sala Bahia, Sala Questão Religiosa, Sala Habeas
Corpus, Sala Código Civil - each identified with some part of his life.
Museu Villa-Lobos
Rua Sorocaba 200 • Mon-Fri 10am-5pm •
T
21 2226 9818,
W
museuvillalobos.org.br • Free •
M
Botafogo
On Rua Sorocaba, a turning off Avenida São Clemente, is the
Museu Villa-Lobos
,
established in 1960 to celebrate the work of the great Brazilian composer, Heitor
Villa-Lobos (1887-1959). It's largely a display of his personal possessions and original
music scores, which will really only be of interest to fans and music enthusiasts, who'll
also be pleased to know that you can also buy CDs of his music here.
Museu do Índio
Rua das Palmeiras 55 • Tues-Fri 9am-5.30pm, Sat, Sun & public holidays 1-5pm • Free •
T
21 3214 8700,
W
www.museudoindio.org.br •
M
Botafogo
Currently closed for refurbishment until early 2014, the
Museu do Índio
, dedicated to
Brazil's indigenous peoples, is housed in an 1880 mansion and exhibits a broad and
interesting collection, including utensils, musical instruments, tribal costumes and
ritual devices. There's a good photographic exhibition and an accessible anthropological
explanation of many rituals and institutions. Most interesting of all are the full-size
shelters of different peoples that are erected on a temporary basis in the museum's
grounds. The shop sells a range of carefully sourced original artefacts.
Casa Daros
Rua General Severiano 159 • Wed-Sat 11am-9pm, Sun & public holidays 11am-6pm • R$12; Wed free •
T
21 2138 0850 •
W
casadaros.net•
M
Botafogo
Casa Daros
is an educational and exhibition space set up by a Swiss foundation in a
very impressive Neoclassical building dating from 1866. The building formerly
