Sights in Brazil
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Biblioteca Nacional
Inaugurated in 1910, the neoclassical national library is the largest in Latin America, with more than nine million volumes, including many rare books and manuscripts. Among the treasure trove are original letters written by Princess Isabel, the first newspapers printed in the country and two copies of the precious Mainz Psalter Bible, printed in 1492.
reviewed
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Museu da Casa Brasileira
Occupying an extravagant Palladian-style villa built by a local tycoon and his wife in the 1940s, the small but charming Museu da Casa Brasileira has a hodgepodge collection of Brazilian and European furnishings from the 17th to 20th centuries. The museum’s café-restaurant is its best feature, with good food and lovely outdoor seating.
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Museu de Arte Contemporânea
A small branch of the University of São Paulo's Museu de Arte Contemporânea displays a rotating collection of mostly local, contemporary artists in the same Niemeyer building that houses most of the Bienal's exhibits. If the current show is not to your liking, concentrate on the building's huge spaces and Niemeyer's distinctly curving ramps.
reviewed
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Museu de Folclórico Edson Carneiro
Created in 1968, the museum is an excellent introduction to Brazilian folk art, particularly from the northeast. Its permanent collection comprises 1400 pieces, and includes Candomblé costumes, ceramic figurines and religious costumes used in festivals. The museum also features a folklore library and a small shop, selling handicrafts, books and folk music. The museum is located next door to the Palácio do Catete.
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Museu Morro da Caixa D´Agua Velha
Probably the city’s oddest museum is the Museu Morro da Caixa D´Agua Velha, which brings together a variety of frankly weird water-themed trinkets, from old tubes to shower heads. Far more interesting than the display is the construction itself, the city’s former water tank dating from 1882 and built in the style of a Roman aqueduct.
reviewed
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Parque Anauá
About 2.5km northwest of the center, the vast grounds of Parque Anauá contain gardens, a lake, a museum, an amphitheater and various sporting facilities. Inside the park, the Museu Integrado de Roraima (admission free; h8am-6pm) has modest displays on the state’s archaeology, indigenous peoples, wildlife and history.
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Casa da Cultura
In a beautiful colonial mansion, Paraty’s Casa da Cultura has a fascinating permanent exhibition documenting local culture through photos and videotaped interviews with residents. The museum also displays relics from Paraty’s past, with signs in English and Portuguese. There are fabulous views of town from the main gallery upstairs.
reviewed
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Centro Geodésico da America do Sul
An obelisk marks the Centro Geodésico da America do Sul, one of the exact centers of the continent according to the locals. There is of course only one real exact centre of South America, but inhabitants of Chapada dos Guimarães claim that it actually resides there. If you care enough to find out who is right, check Google Earth!
reviewed
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Mercado Muncipal
The recently refurbished Mercado Muncipal is a Belle Epoque confection of stained glass and a series of vast domes. Inside is a humble but delightful market specializing in fresh produce and dried goods. It's also a great place to sample a classic Sampa delight: pasteis, pockets of dough stuffed with meat, cheese or fish and then fried.
reviewed
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Estação da Luz
Across the street from the park sits Estação da Luz, a classic late-Victorian train station constructed with materials entirely shipped in from Britain and completed in 1901. It too has been returned to its original splendor. It services São Paulo's extensive suburban lines, with a long tunnel linking it to the Luz metro station.
reviewed
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Casa de Jorge Amado
The Casa de Jorge Amado, where the great writer lived with his parents while working on his first novel, has been restored and turned into a lovely and informative museum honoring Amado’s life. Not many writers can boast this sort of recognition while still alive, but he became a national treasure well before his death in 2001.
reviewed
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Centro de Arte Hélio Oiticica
This avant-garde museum is set in a 19th-century neoclassical building that originally housed the Conservatory of Music and Dramatic Arts. Today the center displays permanent works by the artist, theoretician and poet Hélio Oiticica, as well as bold contemporary art exhibitions, well-tuned to Oiticica's forward-leaning aesthetics. In addition to six exhibition galleries, there's a bistro and a book shop on the 1st floor.
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Cachoeira Veu de Noiva
The young and the restless can follow the trail from Maromba to the Cachoeira Veu de Noiva, a very beautiful waterfall, in the Parque Nacional de Itatiaia, a full day's hike each way. It's possible to kayak the rapids of the Rio Preto, the cascading river dividing Minas Gerais from Rio state. The river also has small beaches and natural pools.
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Penedo's Waterfalls
Penedo's Waterfalls main attractions are the forest and waterfalls. There are three waterfalls worth visiting: Três Cachoeiras, the very pretty Cachoeira do Roman which is on private grounds (but accessible to the public), 10 minutes' walk uphill from the Pousada Challenge, and Cachoeira de Deus, which is right near the Pousada Challenge.
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Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia
Below the Museu Afro-Brasileiro, the Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia exhibits indigenous Brazilian pottery, bows and arrows, masks and feather headpieces. Also tucked between the building's arching stone foundations is 19th-century glass and porcelain found during the excavations for the metro (a project halted due to a redirection of funds).
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Edifício Itália
With 46 stories, this skyscraper just south of Praça da República is the tallest in the city center. Its top-floor restaurant offers some of the best, most sweeping views of São Paulo, though prices are high and the food nothing flash. Strictly speaking, you're supposed to be a customer to go there; if you're not, act like one!
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Preservativos Natex
Keeping hundreds of local rubber-tappers in business, Preservativos Natex turns rubber into rubbers. The factory produces 100 million condoms per year, all for distribution by government health agencies. Around 700 families collect and sell latex to the factory, which was opened in 2008 with joint private and public backing.
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Tamar Project Station
The extremely worthwhile Tamar Project station is located on the beach next to the church and lighthouse. Tamar, an abbreviation for sea turtles (TArtaruga MARinha), is a highly successful nonprofit organization (Fundação Pró Tamar; www.tamar.org.br, in Portuguese) dedicated to saving five species of sea turtles in Brazil.
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Hurukunê-Wao
This small gallery and cultural center is intended to highlight the art and culture of Rondônia’s indigenous communities. It’s partly successful at that, with a handful of informative displays and folk-art pieces mixed in with predictable tourist kitsch. It’s attached to the local office of Funai, the federal índio affairs agency.
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Museu da Língua Portuguesa
Half of Estação da Luz has been given over to this museum, with fascinating permanent exhibits documenting the rise of the Brazilian language as distinct from European Portuguese, as well as creative temporary installations celebrating Brazilian literature. Note, though, that all accompanying signs are in Portuguese only.
reviewed
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Museu da Inconfidência
The Museu da Inconfidência, formerly the old municipal headquarters and jail, is an attractive building built between 1784 and 1854, on the south side of Praça Tiradentes. The museum contains the tomb of Tiradentes, documents of the Inconfidência Mineira, torture instruments and important works by Ataíde and Aleijadinho.
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Fazenda do Secretário
The countryside around Vassouras is teeming with old coffee fazendas protected by historical preservation institutes. Most are still privately owned, so prior permission is required before touring them. The imposing Fazenda do Secretário is popular. The Casa de Cultura has detailed information and can help arrange visits.
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Museu de Arte do Rio Grande do Sul
A pedestrian promenade runs into Praça da Alfândega, the leafy square that is home to the Museu de Arte do Rio Grande do Sul. The neoclassical building is an impressive venue for regional artists. On the ground floor, the inviting Bistrot de MARGS takes advantage of the leafy setting, which is a lovely spot for lunch.
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Instituto Tomie Ohtake
The Instituto Tomie Ohtake is a cultural institute founded by Ruy Ohtake, São Paulo’s most prominent contemporary architect. The institute is dedicated to his Japanese-born mother, one of Sao Paulo’s most illustrious painters. An attractive gallery space features changing exhibits of prominent, mostly local artists.
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Gruta do Lago Azul
A bargain attraction is the Gruta do Lago Azul, a large cave with a luminous underground lake and stalactite formations 20km west of Bonito. It’s often the postcard view of Bonito, and is worth seeing, but it’s only truly miraculous in late December and early January, when the sun shines in at just the right angle.
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