News
Botanical Garden
8.May.2008
This year, Rio de Janeiro is celebrating the bicentennial of the arrival of the Portuguese Royal Family in Brazil. The entourage that came to Rio de Janeiro included Prince Regent D. João, Queen D. Maria I and more than 10,000 others. Among them were European artists charged with the task of portraying society and nature. And professionals hired to carry out profound urban reforms.
The installation of the Royal Family in Rio de Janeiro was responsible for a significant transformation in the state. On March 7, 1808, the Royal Family finally arrived in Rio, which became the Empire’s new capital. Without a great deal of infrastructure to welcome them, many mansions were adapted to the needs of the court and others reformed in a neoclassical style. This was the case of Carmo Convent, which hosted Queen D. Maria I and part of the royal entourage.
As an inheritance from its time as Imperial capital, to this day Rio de Janeiro has European style monuments and public buildings on its downtown streets that comprise an important historical and cultural collection for the country: the Municipal Theater
, the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes (National Fine Arts Museum)
, Itamaraty Palace
, the National Library
, Candlelária Church and São Bento Monastery.
Founded in 1808 by D. João, the Botanical Gardens surprise visitors with the gigantic imperial palm trees lining the main entrance. You will also find near-extinct species like Brazil wood, yellow
aracá and firewood trees. As well as Brazil’s largest cactus collection, with 400 species. There is also a touch and smell garden (plants with interesting odors and textures) for visually challenged visitors. Ponds with species of giant water lilies, lotuses, papyruses and water hyacinths. And a forest garden to where seedlings are grown, especially rare species and native forest plants.
There you will also find the statues Echo and Narcissus, by Mestre Valentim, which were the first sculptures to be cast in Brazil. Not to mention the Empress’ Manor House, which was previously part of the oldest sugar plantation in Rio.
Besides the Botanical Garden, the arrival of the Royal family also gave the Boa Vista Estate to Rio, which still has the palace used as the royal residence, and which currently houses the National Museum and the Rio de Janeiro Zoological Garden; the Imperial Court, which is now used as a cultural center with exhibitions, libraries and stores, and which was placed on the National Register of Historical Places; Carmo Church, the Bank of Brazil building cultural center and old Commerce Square. These are other places that are part of Imperial Rio’s cultural itinerary.
Petrópolis: an imperial city
The city’s history began in 1830, when Dom Pedro I, son of D. João, fell in love with the climate and beauty of the region’s
Mata Atlántica and bought the Córrego Seco (Dry Creek) Plantation. The land was inherited by Dom Pedro II, giving rise to Petrópolis on March 16, 1843. The urban master plan, considered daring for its time, can still be appreciated as you walk along the streets of the Historical Downtown area, where the plantation used to be.
Built to serve as the Court’s headquarters, Petropolis maintains the majesty typical to cities that have taken part in history. The mansions of Barons, Viscounts and Counts, located close by the Imperial Palace, which is now a beautiful museum, reveal the style of life of a romantic, aristocratic era. Of soirées and sophisticated clothing, of refinement and power.
The old Imperial Palace, which currently houses the Imperial Museum, is entirely built in a neoclassical style. The gardens, designed by Jean Baptiste Binot with the personal guidance of the emperor deserve special attention. Besides storing objects and furniture from the palace, the Museum also brings together Imperial Brazilian relics like, for example, the crown of D. Pedro II. There is also an art gallery and the Historical Archive of the Imperial Museum. The museum acquired one of the most important pieces of Brazilian history - the Golden Feather used by Princess Isabel when she signed the law freeing the slaves.
You can also visit the official residence of Princess Isabel and Count d'Eu, which she acquired in 1876. For a more complete tour of the Empire, a great recommendation is São Pedro de Alcântara Cathedral. It was built in 1884 in a seventeenth century French Gothic style. Inside, some of the highlights are pieces sculpted in Carrara marble. The Imperial Chapel stores statues of the imperial family, besides the mortal remains of D. Pedro II, D. Teresa Cristina, Princess Isabel and Count d'Eu.
Another inheritance which is also an invitation for an outing is the Crystal Palace, which was built in S.A. de Saint-Sauver-Les Arras (1789) in France. With its structure and glass enclosures, the Palace is a perfect example of the new architectural style that began with the Industrial Revolution. It staged many dances, beginning with its inauguration on February 2, 1884. This was also where Princess Isabel signed the freedom of 103 slaves shortly before the abolition of slavery.
Petropolis also houses the residence of the Baron of Mauá, now the Headquarters of Petrópolis’ Secretary of Industry, Commerce and Tourism. The Baron of Mauá had it built in 1852, and used iron founded in his own factories for the fences. There is also the Rio Negro Palace, built in 1889 by the Baron of Rio Negro to serve as his home, and which also served as state capital from 1894 to 1902 when Petropolis was the capital of Rio de Janeiro. From 1903 on it became the summer residence of Brazilian Presidents until the city of Brasília was built. The wedding ceremony of President Hermes da Fonseca and Nair de Teffé, one of the most famous marriages of its time, took place in the halls of Rio Negro Palace.
Itinerary:
Botanical Garden
Telephones: (21) 3874-1808 or 3874-1214
Website:
http://www.jbrj.gov.br
Imperial Court
Telephones: (21) 2533-4407
Website:
http://www.pacoimperial.com.br
National Museum
Telephones: (21)2562-6042
Website:
http://www.museunaiconal.ufrj.br
Imperial Museum
Telephones: (24) 2237-8000
Website:
http://www.museuimperial.gov.br
Crystal Palace
Telephones: (24) 2247-3721
Website:
http://fctp.petropolis.rj.gov.br
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