64 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 64 sights are available in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Sightseeing Tours in Rio de JaneiroThe 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 San Francisco de Paula is a Catholic temple located in the Largo of San Francisco de Paula, historical centre of the city of Rio de Janeiro, the 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)
4. 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.
5. Museum of Tomorrow
The Museum of Tomorrow is a science museum in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was designed by Spanish neofuturistic architect Santiago Calatrava, and built next to the waterfront at Pier Maua. Its construction was supported by the Roberto Marinho Foundation and cost approximately 230 million reais. The building was opened on 17 December 2015, with President Dilma Rousseff in attendance.
6. Pedra do Sal
Pedra do Sal is a historic and religious site in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Saúde. The site was originally a quilombo village. An association group still lives there, formally known as the Community Descendents of the Quilombos of Pedra do Sal. The site was recognised in 1984 by INEPAC, the Institute for State Cultural Heritage.
7. Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro, and the second-most-populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a beta global city, Rio de Janeiro is the sixth most populous city in the Americas. Part of the city has been designated as a World Heritage Site, named "Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between the Mountain and the Sea", on 1 July 2012 as a Cultural Landscape.
8. 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 near where the proclamation of the Republic of Brazil occurred in 1889.
9. 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".
10. 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.
11. Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa
The Casa de Rui Barbosa Foundation is an institution linked to the Ministry of Citizenship, located in Rio de Janeiro, in the Botafogo neighborhood, located at Rua São Clemente, 134. The institution originates a Museum-Casa, the Casa de Rui Barbosa 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 jurist, politician, Brazilian lawyer and intellectual Ruy Barbosa de Oliveira lived in one , from 1895 to 1923. According to the definition of the International Council of Museums (ICOM): “Museums Casas are historical buildings that have already been inhabited and are open to the public to display furniture and original collections of historical, cultural and ethnographic interest, preserving the spirit of the ancient owners and the memory of the community. ”
12. 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.
13. 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 chosen seven wonders of the historic neighborhood of Santa Cruz, due to real tourist and sociocultural interest of the city of Rio de Janeiro.
14. Gávea Planetary
The Planetary Foundation of the City of Rio de Janeiro (Planetary) is an institution, a legal entity governed by public law, linked to the Secretariat of Government and Public Integrity of the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. It is dedicated to the dissemination of astronomy and related sciences to the population. Manages two planetariumsː Gávea Planetarium and Santa Cruz Planetarium. It is headquartered at a hundred number of Vice Governor Rubens Berardo Street, in the Gávea neighborhood. Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday from 9:00 to 17:00, Saturday from 14:30 to 19:00 and Sunday from 15:30 to 18:00.
15. 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.
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 LIGA RJ, an entity created along with eight other schools in 2019, and participates in the Gold Series, a group that provides access to the elite of Rio de Janeiro's carnival.
17. 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.
18. Igreja Nossa Senhora da Conceição
The Imperial Immaculate Conception Chapel is located in Praia da Bica, in the carioca Jardim Guanabara neighborhood. 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 expanded its sides - thus receiving the form that preserves until the days current.
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 witness the memory and history of the form of republican government in Brazil. It is part of the structure of the Brazilian Institute of Museums, federal authority linked to the Special Secretariat of Culture of the Ministry of Tourism.
20. Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte do Carmo
The Church of Nossa Senhora do Carmo of the former Sé or former Sé, as it is popularly known, is a parish of the Roman Catholic Church, located at Sete de Setembro Street, 14 with Rua First of March, in the historic center of Rio de Janeiro . It was the Episcopal Headquarters of the Archdiocese of St. Sebastian of Rio de Janeiro until 1976, when the new São Sebastião Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro was completed, which is why it is also referred to as ancient See.
21. 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.
22. Estátua Princesa Isabel

Isabella of Brazil, nicknamed "the Redeemer", was the eldest daughter of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil and Empress Consort Teresa Christina of the Two Sicilies, and thus a member of the Brazilian branch of the House of Braganza. As the heiress presumptive of the Empire of Brazil, she received the title of Princess Imperial and was Regent of the Empire on three different occasions — one of them, she signed the Golden Law, which declared slavery extinct in Brazil.
23. Sant'Ana
According to Christian apocryphal 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.
24. 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.
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. Jardins do Palácio do Catete
The historic garden of the Catete Palace occupies an area of 24,000 m2 from the Catete Palace area, connecting Rua do Catete to Flamengo Beach, in parallel to Silveira Martins Street. Its original format, whose project is attributed to the French landscape designer Antoine Glaziou, had large trees, a orchard and the Palmeiras Germany, already existing on the ground since before its acquisition by Baron of Nova Friburgo.
27. 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.
28. Pedra da Gávea
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.
29. Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Lapa dos Mercadores
The Church of Our Lady of the Mercadores is a Catholic Church located at Rua do Ouvidor, number 35, between the streets of the market and the first of March, in the historic center of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is right at the corner of Travessa do Comércio, which leads to the Tourist and historical arch of 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)
30. 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.
31. Manequinho
Manequinho is the popular name of a statue that is located in front of the headquarters of the Botafogo Football and Regatas Club, in the neighborhood of Botafogo, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It represents a boy urinating and was inspired by Manneken Pis, who adorns a corner of Brussels in Belgium. In 2002, the statue was listed as heritage by the city of Rio de Janeiro.
32. 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.
33. 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.
34. Palacete Princesa Isabel
Princess Isabel Palacete is a building located in the Santa Cruz district in Rio de Janeiro. With his architecture that reminds the neoclastic style, the construction was intended to shelter the administrative headquarters of the ancient Santa Cruz. It is now working as a social centre for culture in the region, offering a modest library, musical instrument courses, etc.
35. Morro Dois Irmãos
I die Two Brothers is a rocky formation in Vidigal's neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro. Its top of 533 metres above sea level is higher than the Sugar Bread but lower than the Corcovado, this can be reached by a 1,5 km long trail. Also in the park there are a sculpture signed by Oscar Niemeyer and a memorial dedicated by Air France in honour of the victims of flight AF-447.
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. 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.
38. Palácio Laranjeiras
The Laranjeiras Palace is a palace designated as an 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 Institute of National Historical and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN) and the State Institute of Cultural Heritage of Rio de Janeiro (Inepac).
39. Santuário de Nossa Senhora de Fátima
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima, is a Marian Sanctuary located on Alfredo Baltazar da Silveira Avenue, in the neighborhood of Recreio dos Bandeirantes, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, composed of a replica of the famous Capelinha of the original apparitions of Cova da He would go to the Sanctuary of Fatima, in Fatima, Portugal.
Wikipedia: Santuário de Nossa Senhora de Fátima (Rio de Janeiro) (PT)
40. 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.
41. Espaço Cultural da Marinha
The Cultural Space of the Navy is a cultural center located in the neighborhood of Centro, in the central area of Rio de Janeiro. With an exhibition area of about 1,100 m², it is located on the Conde Orla, between Largo da Candelária and Praça XV, subordinate to the Directorate of Historical Heritage and Documentation of the Navy.
42. Praça São Salvador
Praça São Salvador 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. Palácio Tiradentes
The Tiradentes Palace, was inaugurated on 6 May 1926 and is located in the Centro neighborhood (bairro), next to the Paço Imperial in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was the former seat of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil, between 1926 and 1960, and is the current seat of the Legislative Assembly of the State of Rio de Janeiro.
45. Igreja e Mosteiro de São Bento
The Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat, more commonly known as the Mosteiro de São Bento (Monastery of St. Benedict), is a Benedictine abbey located on the Morro de São Bento in downtown Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Mannerist style church is a primary example of Portuguese colonial architecture in Rio and the country.
46. Nau dos Descobrimentos

The so-called Flagship is a replica of a fifteenth-century Portuguese caravel, built at the Aratu Naval Base in Brazil, by Ralph Nicholson for the commemorations of the 500th anniversary of the Discovery, considered a museum ship, subordinated to the Directorate of Historical Heritage and Documentation of the Navy.
47. Igreja da Santa Cruz dos Militares
The Church of Santa Cruz of the Military is a Colonial church of Rio de Janeiro, which has the privilege of being aggregated to Basilica Vatican since 1923 by Pope Pio XI. Those who take due care of the proper conditions may receive plenary indulgence when visiting it. It's located downtown on March 1st Street, 36.
48. GRES Estação Primeira de Mangueira

Grêmio Recreativo Escola de Samba Estação Primeira de Mangueira, or simply Mangueira, is a samba school in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The school was founded on April 28, 1928, by Carlos Cachaça, Cartola, Zé Espinguela, among others. It is located at the Mangueira neighborhood, near the region of Maracanã.
49. General Osório Statue
Square XV, also known as Square XV of November, Square 15 or Square 15, is a square located in the centre's neighborhood in the Central Zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro. Besides being located on First March, the square integrates the Orla Count, a public tour that marches the Bay of Guanabara.
50. 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)
51. Ponte dos Jesuítas
The Guandu Bridge or, as today is known, Jesuit Bridge, is located in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, in Santa Cruz and was completed in 1752, with the purpose of regulating the volume of flood water and to Facilitate the connection of Santa Cruz with other farms. It was a dam bridge.
52. 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.
53. 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.
54. 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.
55. Museu Naval
The Naval Museum is located at the Rio City Center in Brazil. It's a space for the preservation of Brazilian Naval memory. In its acquis, there are several documents which report the history of the Brazil Navy, emphasising Brazilian participation in conflicts.
56. 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.
57. GRESE Império da Tijuca

The School of Samba Educational School of Tijuca Empire is a Brazilian samba school of the city of Rio de Janeiro. The school is, plus the name, the term "educational", because the main concern at the time of its foundation was education.
58. 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.
59. Museu Casa do Pontal
The Casa do Pontal Museum is the most important Museum of Popular Art in Brazil and is located at Recreio dos Bandeirantes, Rio de Janeiro and "a reference tourist and anthropological not only in Brazil, but around the world ".
60. 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.
61. Museu do Universo

The Universe Museum is a museum dedicated to astronomy. It was inaugurated in 1970 in the 100 number of Vice Governor Rubens Berardo Street, in the Gávea neighborhood, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
62. Praça José de Alencar
José de Alencar is a square located in the Flemish neighborhood in Brazil. It is in the confluence of the streets of Cathete, Count of Baependi, Baron of Flemish, Marquis of Abrantes and Vergheiro Senator.
63. 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.
64. 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.
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