61 Sights in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (with Map and Images)
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Explore interesting sights in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Click on a marker on the map to view details about it. Underneath is an overview of the sights with images. A total of 61 sights are available in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Sightseeing Tours in Rio de JaneiroActivities in Rio de Janeiro
Pedra da Gávea is a monolithic mountain in Tijuca Forest, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Composed of granite and gneiss, its elevation is 844 metres (2,769 ft), making it one of the highest mountains in the world that ends directly in the ocean. Trails on the mountain were opened up by the local farming population in the early 1800s; today, the site is under the administration of the Tijuca National Park.
Morro Dois Irmãos is a rock formation in the neighborhood of Vidigal, in Rio de Janeiro. Its top 533 meters of altitude above sea level is higher than sugar bread but lower than corcovado it can be hit by a 1.5 km long trail. Also in the park are a sculpture signed by Oscar Niemeyer and a memorial dedicated by Air France in honor of the victims of the AF-447 flight.
The Valongo Wharf (Portuguese: Cais do Valongo) is an old dock located in the port area of Rio de Janeiro, between the current Coelho e Castro and Sacadura Cabral streets. Built in 1811, it was the site of landing and trading of enslaved Africans until 1831, with the blockade of Africa banning the Atlantic slave trade to Brazil.
The Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading is a library and lusophone cultural institution, is located in Luís de Camões Street, number 30, in the center of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is listed by the State Institute of Cultural Heritage. Elected the fourth most beautiful library in the world by Time magazine, the Cabinet has the largest collection of Portuguese literature outside Portugal.
Wikipedia: Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading (EN), Website
The Church of São Francisco de Paula is a Roman Catholic temple located in Largo de São Francisco de Paula, in the historic center of the city of Rio de Janeiro, capital of the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. It is one of the largest temples in the municipality.
Wikipedia: Igreja de São Francisco de Paula (Rio de Janeiro) (PT)
6. Campo de Santana
Campo de Santana is a park located in Praça da República, in the center of the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The name of the square is a reference to the fact that it is located in the vicinity of where the proclamation of the Republic of Brazil took place in 1889.
7. Escadaria Selarón
Escadaria Selarón, locally known as the 'Lapa Steps' for being situated at the "Lapa" neighborhood, is a set of world-famous steps in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They are the work of Chilean-born artist Jorge Selarón who claimed it as "my tribute to the Brazilian people".
8. Arcos da Lapa
The Carioca Aqueduct, also known as Arcos da Lapa, is an aqueduct in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The aqueduct was built in the middle of the 18th century to bring fresh water from the Carioca River to the population of the city. It is a typical example of colonial architecture and engineering.
9. Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa
The Casa de Rui Barbosa Foundation is an institution linked to the Ministry of Culture, located in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Botafogo, located at Rua São Clemente, 134. The institution has its origins in a house museum, the Rui Barbosa House Museum, created by Decree No. 17,758, of April 4, 1927 and inaugurated on August 13, 1930, located in one of the oldest urban farms in the city, where the Brazilian jurist, politician, lawyer and intellectual Ruy Barbosa de Oliveira lived, from 1895 to 1923. According to the definition of the International Council of Museums (ICOM): "House Museums: "House-museums are historic buildings that were once inhabited and are open to the public to display original furniture and collections of historical, cultural and ethnographic interest, preserving the spirit of the former owners and the memory of the community."
10. Sambadrome Marquês de Sapucaí
The Sambadrome Marquês de Sapucaí is a purpose-built parade area built for the Rio Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The venue is also known as Passarela Professor Darcy Ribeiro or simply the Sambódromo in Portuguese or Sambadrome in English. It is located in the downtown area of Cidade Nova in Rio de Janeiro, and is the place where samba schools parade competitively each year during the Rio Carnival. The parades attract many thousands of Brazilians and foreign tourists each year, and the structure is also used as a multi-purpose performance venue. The structures of the Sambadrome were designed by the architect Oscar Niemeyer (1907–2012), and represent his first major work after the end of the Brazilian dictatorship of 1964–1985.
11. Estátua Princesa Isabel
Isabel do Brasil, named "The Redeemer", was the imperial princess and a presumptive heiress to the throne of the Empire of Brazil, who served as regent of the Empire on three different occasions - in one of them, signed the Golden Law, which declared extinct slavery in Brazil . He was the eldest daughter of Emperor D. Pedro II and Empress D. Teresa Cristina, who, after the death of her two male brothers in childhood, was recognized as her father's presumptive heiress. Being a woman, her strong Catholicism and marriage to a foreign prince were seen as impediments against her, along with the emancipation of slaves, who generated discontent between rich farmers.
12. Zeppelin Hangar
The so-called Zeppelin Hangar is located on the premises of the Santa Cruz Air Base, a unit of the Brazilian Air Force, in the neighborhood of Santa Cruz in the west zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro. It is a hangar, a large building intended to house the German airships known as zeppelins. It is currently one of the last existing airship hangars and one of the best preserved in the world. It is listed by the National Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN) and may be recognized by law as one of the seven wonders of the historic neighborhood of Santa Cruz, due to real tourist and sociocultural interest of the city of Rio de Janeiro.
13. Museu da Polícia Civil
The Rio de Janeiro Civil Police Museum is a historical museum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It organizes and promotes permanent and temporary exhibitions of documents and items that portray the activities of Civil Police in the history of Rio de Janeiro since colonial times. It was founded in 1912 and was initially used only for the instruction of police academy students, but opened to the public in the 1930s. The museum is headquartered in a French eclectic style building constructed in 1910 by the architect Heitor de Mello. It is registered under the International Council of Museums as a scientific museum.
14. Sítio Roberto Burle Marx
Roberto Burle Marx was a Brazilian landscape architect whose designs of parks and gardens made him world-famous. He is accredited with having introduced modernist landscape architecture to Brazil. He was known as a modern nature artist and a public urban space designer. His work had a great influence on tropical garden design in the 20th century. Water gardens were a popular theme in his work. He was deftly able to transfer traditional artistic expressions such as graphic design, tapestry and folk art into his landscape designs. He also designed fabrics, jewellery and stage sets.
15. Quinta da Boa Vista
The Quinta da Boa Vista is a public park of great historical importance located in the São Cristóvão neighbourhood, in the North zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The park was part of the gardens of the São Cristóvão Palace, the residence of the King of Portugal and then the Emperors of Brazil in the 19th century and the home of the Zoological Garden of Rio de Janeiro, with over 2000 species of animals. The building of the old palace hosted the National Museum, with collections on natural history, ethnology and archaeology.
16. GRES Acadêmicos de Santa Cruz
Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Acadêmicos de Santa Cruz is a Brazilian samba school in the city of Rio de Janeiro, based in the neighborhood of Santa Cruz, in the west zone of the city. Among the samba schools of the Rio Carnival that have already paraded in Marquês de Sapucaí, it is the one that is located furthest from the Sambadrome, located on Rua do Império in Santa Cruz. It is currently affiliated to the Super League Carnival of Brazil and participates in the Série Prata, the third division of the Carioca Carnival.
17. Igreja Nossa Senhora da Conceição
The Immaculate Conception Imperial Chapel is located on Bica Beach, in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Jardim Guanabara. It is one of the oldest buildings in the neighborhood, and its construction began in 1622, when it was part of the farm that occupied the area. The chapel was only donated to the Archdiocese of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro in 1786. Thirty years after the donation, in 1816, the chapel underwent a major renovation, which enlarged its sides - thus receiving the form that it retains to this day.
18. Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte do Carmo
The Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel of the Old Cathedral, or Old Cathedral, as it is popularly known, is a parish of the Roman Catholic Church, located at Rua Sete de Setembro, nº 14 and Rua Primeiro de Março, in the historic center of Rio de Janeiro. It was the episcopal seat of the Archdiocese of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro until 1976, when the new Cathedral of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro was completed, which is why it is also referred to as the Old Cathedral.
19. Museu da República
The Museum of the Republic is a Brazilian museum located in the city of Rio de Janeiro, more precisely in the historic building of the Catete Palace. Its function is to preserve, investigate and communicate the objects and documents that testify to the memory and history of the republican form of government in Brazil. It is part of the structure of the Brazilian Institute of Museums, a federal agency linked to the Special Secretariat of Culture of the Ministry of Tourism.
20. G.R.E.S. Unidos de Padre Miguel
The Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Unidos de Padre Miguel is a samba school of the city of Rio de Janeiro, being located on Rua Mesquita in the neighborhood of Padre Miguel. I came to present themselves among the great, in 1960, 1971 and 1972. After years in which they would wrap the flag gave back on top and Group A, in 2010. but with the addition made by LIERJ, where it originated the series to the school came to be a candidate for the title of this group.
21. Sant'Ana
According to apocrypha, as well as Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, the wife of Joachim and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Bible's canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come only from New Testament apocrypha, of which the Gospel of James seems to be the earliest that mentions them. The mother of Mary is mentioned but not named in the Quran.
22. Almirante Miguel Grau
Miguel María Grau Seminario was the most renowned Peruvian naval officer and hero of the naval battle of Angamos during the War of the Pacific (1879–1884). He was known as el Caballero de los Mares for his kind and chivalrous treatment of defeated enemies and is esteemed by both Peruvians and Chileans. He is an iconic figure for the Peruvian Navy, and one of the most famous merchant marine and naval military leaders of the Americas.
23. Jardins do Palácio do Catete
The historic garden of the Catete Palace occupies an area of 24,000 m2 of the Catete Palace area, connecting Rua do Catete to Praia do Flamengo, parallel to Rua Silveira Martins. Its original format, whose design is attributed to the French landscape architect Antoine Glaziou, featured trees of great height, an orchard and the alley of palm trees, already existing on the land since before its acquisition by the Baron of Nova Friburgo.
24. Parque Shanghai
Parque Shanghai is an amusement park located in the neighborhood of Penha, in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is located in the vicinity of the Church of Nossa Senhora da Penha. Shanghai offers a variety of traditional rides that include one of the oldest operating carousels in the world, two roller coasters, the Enterprise, ghost train, highway, American whip, Ferris wheel, among others.
25. Museu do Indio
O Museu do Índio is a cultural and scientific agency of the Fundação Nacional do Índio or FUNAI. It was created by Darcy Ribeiro, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1953. As the only official institution in Brazil exclusively dedicated to indigenous cultures, the museum has the objective of promoting an accurate and updated image for the indigenous cause, while avoiding common misconceptions and prejudice of these societies.
26. Rio de Janeiro Cathedral
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian, better known as the Metropolitan Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro or as the Cathedral of St. Sebastian of Rio de Janeiro, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro. The cathedral is the See of the Metropolitan Archbishops of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The church is dedicated to Saint Sebastian, the patron saint of Rio de Janeiro.
27. Morro da Providência
Morro da Providência is a favela located between the two Rio de Janeiro districts of Santo Cristo and Gamboa. It has an altitude of 115 metres and is located in the port area of the city. It is widely considered to be the first favela community in Brazil."The granite hump of Providencia gazes down like a stern guardian on the old port of Rio de Janeiro. It offers probably the finest viewpoint over any city I know."
28. Palacete Princesa Isabel
The Princesa Isabel Palace is a building located in the Santa Cruz neighborhood, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. With its architecture reminiscent of the neoclassical style, the construction was intended to house the administrative headquarters of the old Santa Cruz Slaughterhouse. It currently functions as a social center promoting culture in the region, offering a modest library, musical instrument courses, etc.
29. Navio-Museu Bauru
USS McAnn (DE-179) is a retired Cannon-class destroyer escort built for the United States Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean and provided escort service against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys. She was transferred to the Brazilian Navy in 1944 and renamed as Bauru. She is now a museum ship preserved at the Brazilian Navy Cultural Center in Rio de Janeiro.
30. Manequinho
Manequinho is the popular name of a statue that is situated in front of the headquarters of the Botafogo Football and Regattas club, in the Botafogo neighborhood, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It depicts a boy urinating and was inspired by the Manneken Pis, which adorns a street corner in Brussels, Belgium. In 2002, the statue was listed as a heritage site by the city of Rio de Janeiro.
31. Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Lapa dos Mercadores
The Church of Nossa Senhora da Lapa dos Mercadores is a Roman Catholic church located at Rua do Ouvidor, number 35, between Mercado and Primeiro de Março streets, in the historic center of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is right on the corner of Travessa do Comércio, which leads to the touristic and historic Arco do Teles and is owned by the Catholic Brotherhood of the same name, founded in 1750.
Wikipedia: Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Lapa dos Mercadores (PT)
32. Palácio do Catete
The Catete Palace is an urban mansion in Rio de Janeiro's Flamengo neighborhood. The property stretches from Rua do Catete to Praia do Flamengo. Construction began in 1858 and ended in 1867. From 1897 to 1960, it was Brazil's presidential palace and the site of Getúlio Vargas' suicide. It now houses the Museu da República and a theatre. The Catete underground rail station is adjacent.
33. Edifício A Noite
The Joseph Gire Building, better known as the A Noite Building or Edificio o Jornal A Noite, is an office building located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil that served as the headquarters of the Rio-based newspaper A Noite. At a height of 102 meters, it was the tallest building in Brazil for two years between 1927 and 1929 before it was surpassed by the Martinelli Building in São Paulo.
34. Praça Paris
Paris Square is located in the Glória neighborhood, in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. Designed by French urban planner Alfred Agache, it was built on an embankment in 1926 during the administration of Mayor Antônio Prado Júnior. The project reproduced the layout of a typical Parisian garden and included a large number of large almond trees, works of art and sculptures.
35. GRES Unidos da Tijuca
The Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Unidos da Tijuca is a samba school of the city of Rio de Janeiro. It was founded on 31 December 1931 from the fusion of existing blocks in Morro do Borel. Among its founders are Leandro Chagas, João de Almeida, Pacific Vasconcelos, Tatão, Alfredo Gomes, Marina Silva, Orlando da Costa Godinho, Zeneida Oliveira, and Regina Vasconcelos.
36. Earth Science Museum
The Earth Sciences Museum is a geological museum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The building was part of the National Exposition of Brazil in 1908. Its collection includes minerals, fossils, and geological exhibits. The building was constructed in 1907 for the National Exposition of Brazil and was intended to be permanent. At the exposition, it was the States Pavilion.
37. Palácio Laranjeiras
The Palácio das Laranjeiras is a palace designated as the official residence of the Governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro. It is located in the neighborhood of Laranjeiras, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. It is listed by the National Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN) and by the State Institute of Cultural Heritage of Rio de Janeiro (INEPAC).
38. General Osório Statue
Praça XV, also known as Praça XV de Novembro, Praça 15 de Novembro, Praça Quinze de Novembro, Praça 15 or Praça Quinze, is a square located in the Centro neighborhood, in the Central Zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro. In addition to being located on Rua Primeiro de Março, the square is part of Orla Conde, a public promenade that borders Guanabara Bay.
39. Casa França-Brasil
Casa França-Brasil is located in the historic center of the city of Rio de Janeiro, state of the same name, in Brazil. This historic property is currently being reclassified as a cultural center. It is a national cultural heritage, listed by the National Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN), on May 24, 1938, under process No. 101-T-1938.
40. Espaço Cultural da Marinha
The Espaço Cultural da Marinha is a cultural center located in the Centro neighborhood, in the Central Zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro. With an exhibition area of about 1.1 thousand m², it is located in Orla Conde, between Largo da Candelária and Praça XV, subordinated to the Directorate of Historical Heritage and Documentation of the Navy.
41. AquaRio
The Marine Aquarium of Rio de Janeiro, or AquaRio, is a public aquarium located in the Gamboa neighborhood, in the port zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. With a constructed area of about 26,000 square metres (280,000 sq ft), it is located to the west of Muhammad Ali Square. It is considered the largest marine aquarium in South America.
42. Praça São Salvador
São Salvador Square is a square in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which corresponds to the quadrangle between São Salvador, Esteves Júnior and Senador Corrêa streets. The square, equipped with a children's playground and a bandstand, is surrounded by bars and residential buildings. It is a predominantly middle-class area.
43. Church of Our Lady of the Candelária
The Candelária Church is an important historical Roman Catholic church in the city of Rio de Janeiro, in southeastern Brazil. It was built and decorated during a long period, from 1775 to the late 19th century. The church combines a Portuguese colonial Baroque façade with later Neoclassical and Neo-Renaissance interior elements.
44. Santuário de Nossa Senhora de Fátima
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima is a Marian shrine located on Avenida Alfredo Baltazar da Silveira, in the neighborhood of Recreio dos Bandeirantes, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, consisting of a replica of the famous Chapel of the Original Apparitions of Cova da Iria, in the Sanctuary of Fatima, in Fatima, Portugal.
Wikipedia: Santuário de Nossa Senhora de Fátima (Rio de Janeiro) (PT)
45. Ponte dos Jesuítas
The Guandu Bridge or, as it is known today, the Jesuit Bridge, is located in the West Zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro, in Santa Cruz and was completed in 1752, with the purpose of regulating the volume of flood waters and to facilitate the connection of Santa Cruz with other farms. It was a dam bridge.
46. Igreja da Ordem Terceira de São Francisco da Penitência
The Church of the Third Order of St. Francis of Penitence is a colonial church located next to the Convent of St. Anthony, on the hill of the same name, in downtown Rio de Janeiro. Due to its exuberant baroque decoration, it is considered one of the most important in the city and the country.
Wikipedia: Igreja da Ordem Terceira de São Francisco da Penitência (PT)
47. Cidade do Samba
The João Trinta Samba City, also known as Samba City, is an area intended for the sheds of the samba schools of the Special Group of Rio de Janeiro, located in the heart of the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Gamboa, with its main entrance located on Arlindo Rodrigues Street.
48. GRES Portela
The Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Portela or Portela for short, is a traditional samba school ,founded in 1923, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The school has the highest number of wins in the top-tier Rio parade, with 22 titles in total, including the 2017 Carnival parade.
49. Copacabana's Fort
Fort Copacabana is a military base at the south end of the beach that defines the district of Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The base is open to the public and contains the Museu Histórico do Exército and a coastal defense fort that is the actual Fort Copacabana.
50. Igreja da Santa Cruz dos Militares
The Church of Santa Cruz dos Militares is a colonial church in the city of Rio de Janeiro that has the privilege of being attached to the Vatican Basilica since 1923 by Pope Pius XI. It is located in the center of the city, at Rua Primeiro de Março, 36.
51. GRESE Império da Tijuca
Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Educativa Império da Tijuca is a Brazilian samba school in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The school brings the term "educational" to its name, because the main concern, at the time of its foundation, was with education.
52. Teatro João Caetano
The João Caetano Theater is located in Tiradentes Square, in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. It offers 1,139 seats, including 605 in the audience, 117 in the noble balcony and 417 in the simple balcony. It is the oldest playhouse in the city.
53. Carmen Miranda Museum
Carmen Miranda Museum, located in the Parque Brigadeiro Eduardo Gomes, is a museum established in homage to singer and actress Carmen Miranda and open to the public since 1976. The museum was officially opened on the 21st anniversary of her death.
54. Praça José de Alencar
José de Alencar Square is a square located in the Flamengo neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is located at the confluence of the streets of Catete, Conde de Baependi, Barão do Flamengo, Marquês de Abrantes and Senador Vergueiro.
55. Praça da Apoteose
The Apotheosis Square is a venue in Rio de Janeiro close to the Morro da Mineira favela. It is part of Sambadrome Marquês de Sapucaí, which can hold a maximum 90,000 people. For concerts, it can hold from 10,000 to 40,000 people.
56. Museu Casa do Pontal
The Casa do Pontal Museum is the most important museum of popular art in Brazil and is currently located in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro and "a reference tourism and anthropology not only in Brazil, but all over the world."
57. Chinese Belvedere
The Vista Chinesa is one of the belvederes of Rio de Janeiro, at the topmost of one of the roads that connect the Jardim Botânico area to the Parque Nacional & Floresta da Tijuca, known as the Estrada da Vista Chinesa.
58. Antigo Convento de Nossa Senhora do Carmo
The Carmo Convent in Rio de Janeiro is located in Praça XV, in the center of the city. The current convent is located at Rua Morais e Vale, 1111. It was where the Queen of Portugal Maria I died, in 1816.
59. GRES Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel
The Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel is a samba school of the city of Rio de Janeiro, being located on Rua Coronel Tamarindo, in the neighborhood of Padre Miguel.
60. Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Penha
The Basilica Sanctuary of Our Lady of Penha de França, popularly known as Penha Church, is a traditional Catholic sanctuary located in the neighborhood of Penha, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Wikipedia: Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Penha (Rio de Janeiro) (PT)
61. Morro do Livramento
Morro do Livramento is a geographical feature of the city of Rio de Janeiro. It is located between the hills of Conceição and Providência, in the central area of the city, close to the port region.
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