Rio de Janeiro is the main tourist capital of Latin America. Besides the imcomparable natural beauty, the history and the joy of the
inhabitants, the tourist who looks for a place that offers a sofisticated infrastructure will find everything at the wonderful city.
Rio de Janeiro is known for its natural beauty. But the tourist who also looks for culture and entertainment has several options with
an international standard. Downtown, which has the main trading companies and services, besides a financial section, it is also an
amazing cultural center for its architectonic beauty and historical importance and artistical collection.
Check some of the main cultural attractions of downtown and its surroundings:
 Museu de Arte Moderna (MAM) / Modern Arts Museum
Inaugurated in 1958, the modern arts museum has a privileged location and a very interesting past.
It has a lenght of 130 m and a width of 25 m. The building is located at the gardens of Aterro do
Flamengo and Guanabara´s bay and very close to downtown. In 1978 the museum caught fire but it
got help from people from all over the world, which was extremely necessary for the museum
reconstruction.
Actually, the Modern Arts museum has a collection with around 1.700 works of art, including
paintings, escuptures and engravings of brazilian and foreign artists.
Besides a having a especial library of arts, it is an important cinematheque, where you can find
expositions of the city.
Credit: Rio tur.
Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil / Bank of Brazil Cultural Center
Built in 1880, the BBCC building was once Bank of Brazil and Rio de Janeiro trading association headquarters. As from 1989 it
became a cultural center and nowadays it has 2 theatres, 4 presentation rooms, library with more than 100 thousand books and a
computerized collection, auditorium, video rooms and a movie theatre.
Besides being outstanding for its architecture, BBCC has on its events list more options to catch the public attention. Especially to
the cultural manifestations admirers, the permanent museum exposition: “Brazil money History” .
 Centro Cultural Light / Light Cultural Center
A building with an american Renaissance style, built in 1911, at the old Larga street, as Lights´
garage and headquarters, it has been the center of the city cultural life since 1994.There, you will
find areas and galleries where shows and expositions are performed. A good example is the
antique Rio area, where you can find a collection of historical photos of Augusto Malta; The memory
room, where you will be able to see pictures, equipements and furniture of Rio de Janeiro
Tramway Light and Power Company services; Di Cavalcanti area, with 4 paintings made by the
artist, that creates a view of the daily activities of the city; The Lamartine Babo theatre and the
Coberta Square where the “Bonde Musical Rua Larga” is, a place where artistics manifestations
take place at and that Brazilian popular music is performed.
 Mosteiro de São Bento / Saint Bento´s Monastery
Our lady MontSerrat church and Saint Bento´s monastery construction was a process that started in
1617 and was over in 1669.
However, a century later, a lot of modifications were made trying to extand and restores the
installations. It was worth to wait. Considered a worldwide monument by UNESCO, it is a very
impressive monastery that has na amazing outside and inside beauty.
The paintings, the works of art, the chapel conceptions, the american celling style are some of the
carachertistis that amazes every single person who pass by.
Museu da Chácara do Céu / "Chácara do Céu" Museum
At the “Chácara do céu” museum, the art, the history and nature work together with all their beauty. The old residence of the colectorr
and industrialist Raymond Ottoni de Castro Maya, located in Santa Teresa, has a collection of ceramics, furniture, objects and a
huge book collection. We can point out some very important artists such as: Marcoussis, Di Cavalcanti, Matisse, Dalí, Miró, Picasso
e Portinari. And the 490 aquarelles and the 61 drawings of Debret.
Biblioteca Nacional / National Library
The National Library was built after the Real library destruction after a great fire due to na earthquake that happened in Lisboa. So,
D. José, Portugal´s king ordered the construction of the place.
Nowadays, together with the National Arts museum and Rio de Janeiro municipal theater, it has a priceless arquitetonic complex
and cultural center. It is located at Cinelandia square (downtown), and its building has na ecletic style. So, there is a combination of
neoclassic and art noveau principles.
Teatro Municipal / Municipal Theatre
Located in Cinelandia, it is next to the National Library, the National arts museum and Pedro Ernesto Palace. The theatre calls
peoples´attention not only for the arquitetonic conception but also for the magnificence of the front and the inside of the building. The
good quality materials used for its construction such as: a especial kind of marble, bronze and onyx, mirrors, furniture, paintings and
sculptures make of this theatre a cultural center which has a capacity for up to 2200 people. It is a great sucess in the tourism area
as the it is in the shows that are performed there.
Arcos da Lapa / Lapa´s Arch
Located at Lapa public square, the district was once a reference of Rio de Janeiro night life. Lapa´s arch became the most valuable
monument ever built in Rio de Janeiro at the colonial time.
Lapa´s arch was built to work as an aqueduct, but nowadays it works as an overpass of another tourist attraction: “The streetcars”,
that connects Carioca´s station to Santa Teresa district
Mais informações deste roteiro na M&C Viagens e Turismo, pelo email
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TOURISM