Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1
1808 it became the royal family's
chácara
(country seat) when Portuguese merchant
Elias Antônio Lopes presented the Palácio de São Cristovão (now the Museu Nacional)
and surrounding lands to Dom João VI. Today, the park, with its wide-open expanses
of greenery, tree-lined avenues, lakes, sports areas and games tables, is an excellent place
for a stroll, though at weekends it can get very crowded.
Museu Nacional
Quinta da Boa Vista, São Cristóvão • Tues-Sun 10am-4pm • Normally R$6, but temporarily R$3 during renovation works •
T
21 2562 6900,
W
www.museunacional.ufrj.br
In the centre of the Quinta da Boa Vista, on a small hill, the
Museu Nacional
is an
imposing neoclassical structure, and Brazil's oldest scientific institution, containing
extensive archeological, zoological and botanic collections, an excellent ethnological
section and a good display of artefacts dating from classical antiquity - around a
million pieces in total.
he
archeological
section deals with the human history of Latin America, displaying
Peruvian ceramics, the craftsmanship of the ancient Aztec, Mayan and Toltec civilizations
of Mexico and mummies excavated in the Chiu-Chiu region of Chile. In the Brazilian
room, exhibits of Tupi-Guaraní and Marajó ceramics lead on to the indigenous
ethnographical
section, uniting pieces collected from the numerous indigenous peoples
who once populated Brazil. The genocidal behaviour of Brazil's European settlers,
together with the ravages of disease, reduced the indigenous population from an
estimated six million in 1500 to the present-day total of fewer than two hundred
thousand. he
ethnological
section has a room dedicated to Brazilian folklore, centred
on an exhibition of the ancient Afro- and Indo-Brazilian cults - such as
macumba
,
candomblé
and
umbanda
- that still play an important role in modern Brazilian society.
The mineral collection's star exhibit is the
Bendigo Meteorite
, which landed in the
state of Bahia in 1888 (for sign-seekers, the year slavery was abolished). Its original
weight of 5360kg makes it the heaviest metallic mass known to have fallen through the
Earth's atmosphere. Elsewhere in the museum, you'll find Etruscan pottery, Greco-
Roman ceramics, Egyptian sarcophagi and prehistoric remains - all in all, a good
half-day's worth of exploring.
Jardim Zoólogico
Quinta da Boa Vista, São Cristóvão • Tues-Sun 9am-4.30pm • R$6 •
T
21 3878 4200,
W
www0.rio.rj.gov.br/riozoo
Founded in 1888, Rio's
zoo
was run-down for decades. Now that it's been spruced up,
the animals look happier and the grounds are now kept scrupulously clean by zealous
functionaries, but it's still an old-fashioned site where animals are kept in small cages.
That said, the zoo serves an important scientific role in Brazil, managing some
prominent breeding programmes for endangered native fauna.
he zoo's
Museu da Fauna
has a collection of stuffed birds, mammals and reptiles
from throughout Brazil that is worth a passing look at on the way in.
Maracanã Stadium
Rua Professor Eurico Rabelo, Maracanã • Guided tours hourly 9am-4pm, last tour on match days 7hr before kick-off • R$30 •
T
21 2334 1705 •
W
maracanaonline.com.br •
M
Maracanã, or bus #464 from Leblon, Ipanema, Copacabana and Flamengo
To the west of Quinta da Boa Vista, a short walk across the rail line, over the Viaduto
São Cristovão, stands the
Maracanã
or, more formally, the Estádio Jornalista Mário
Filho. Built in 1950 for the World Cup, it's the biggest stadium of its kind in the world,
holding nearly 200,000 people - in the final match of the 1950 tournament, 199,854
spectators turned up here to watch Brazil lose 1-0 to Uruguay, and well over 100,000
fans attend local derbies, such as the Flamengo v Fluminense fixture. During November
and December, games are often played here three times a week, as many of Rio's teams
have followings that exceed the capacity of their own stadiums. The stadium is also set
to host the opening and closing ceremonies of the
2016 Olympic Games
.
