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About Rio
Old Rio
One of the most interesting outings for tourists is to visit the many historic locations and monuments around the city: churches, forts, palaces, and constructions, that tell the city's history from its foundation in the 16th century, through the Colonial period, the Empire, the Republic and to present times.
Municipal Theatre
Located near the National Library, the National Fine Arts Museum and the Pedro Ernesto Palace, the Municipal Theatre faces the spacious Cinelândia Square. Its attractive architectural design catches the eye, with its imposing facade, paralleled by the beauty of its interior decoration. Built of fine colored Carrara marble, bronze and onyx, it is outfitted with mirrors and period furniture, paintings and sculptures. Seating 2,200 people, this theater is a true temple of culture that is just as popular with visitors as the performances staged here.
Contemporary Art Museum
Designed by the architect Oscar Niemeyer, the MAC was constructed in a privileged location, which takes the eye of the visitor to the other side of the Bay of Guanabara, to Corcovado and Sugar Loaf. The museum is a world tourist site.
Naif Art International Museum
MIAN - International Primitive Art Museum Rio is home to the world's largest and most complete collection of primitive art. Just fifty meters from the mini-train station leading to Christ the Redeemer in the Cosme Velho District, 8,000 works by painters from Brazil and 130 other countries give testimony to this spontaneous and very unacademic type of artistic expression, dating back to the XV Century. This museum also features the largest canvas ever painted in this style, measuring 7 x 4 meters, which portrays the City of Rio de Janeiro in a strikingly original way. It also offers a dynamic cultural program that attracts a steady flow of interested visitors.
Modern Art Museum
Inaugurated in 1958, the Modern Art Museum has a very unusual history. It has a privileged location on Flamengo Park alongside Guanabara Bay, close to downtown. After a disastrous fire in 1978, hundreds of people all over the world flocked to rebuild this cultural treasure, helping repair the building (130 meters x 25 meters) and replace its collections. It currently houses some 11,000 works including paintings, sculptures and engravings by Brazilian and foreign artists, in addition to a specialized art library and a well-known cinematheque that is among the most popular in town.
Sports
Rio is a privileged destination for sports lovers. Aside from water sports - surfing, windsurf, sailing - many other options are available: hand-gliding, paragliding, mountain climbing, cycling, golf, volleyball, tennis and many other types of sports.
Christ the Redeemer
Arms wide open to the world
More than a postcard, the statue of Christ has been elected "The Wonder of Rio" by residents. Deservedly so. From its location at the top of the 710 meters high Corcovado Mountain, the 38-meter statue is the image of the faith and friendliness of cariocas. The monument, inaugurated on the day of Our Lady of Aparecida, 12 October, of the year 1931 by then President Getúlio Vargas and cardinal Dom Sebastiao Leme, has had its 70th anniversary. Since 2000, when it was given new lighting, the statue and the accesses to it have been through a revitalizing process. The highlight was the inauguration on 20 January 2003 of the mechanized access, with panoramic elevators and escalators. Now it is no longer necessary to climb up the 220 steps to the image.
Each of the three panoramic elevators holds 14 people. The access area caters for visitors who come by car as well as for those who use the train of the Corcovado Railway. The enjoyment begins there since the 31-meter tower offers the first view of the city.
Four escalators have been installed, two on each direction, complete the access to the monument. With lateral protection to avoid accidents, the escalators have special devices, such as anti-skidding aluminum on the steps, which guarantee flawless performance and total safety. New visual communication has also taken over. The belvedere offers maps that point out major tourist landmarks such as Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon beaches and Maracana Stadium.
Found on the parapet, the maps are a great help to those not accompanied by guides. And even before reaching the statue itself, visitors can get to know a little of its history. Cosme Velho Station, completely revitalized, has become a modern and comfortable place of leisure and entertainment. A new boarding area has been built, besides tourist shops, a VIP room and an auditorium. The Cultural Space (Espaco Cultural) stands out preserving as it does the whole rich history of the Railway and the Monument.
Sugar Loaf
A ride on the cable car reveals unique landscapes
The Sugar Loaf cable car, an idea of Brazilian engineer Augusto Ferreira Ramos inaugurated on 27 October 1912, had its ninetieth anniversary in 2002. The first installed in Brazil and the third in the world, it is a major icon of Rio tourism and has become a trademark of the city. From the inauguration to the above-mentioned anniversary it transported 31 million tourists. In December, January, February and July - high season - daily attendance goes to three thousand people.
In the nine decades during which it has operated, the cable car has received tourists from all over the world, including internationally known personalities, authorities and artist, such as Einstein in 1925; former presidents John Kennedy of the United States, Jose Sarney of Brazil and Lech Walesa of Poland; singers Roberto Carlos and Sting; soccer players Roanldinho and Romario; actors Roger Moore, Robert de Niro, Gina Lollobrigida, Brooke Shields and Sonia Braga, among others.
Safety
Considered to be one of the safest in the world by international agencies of passenger cable cars, it has never had an accident with casualties. The current lines have safety devices with alarm at all points. Every morning, before receiving the first tourists, the cable cars have a trial run. The route is entirely programmed by electronic equipment that checks 47 safety items.
The tourist complex includes three stations, Praia Vermelha, Morro da Urca and Pao de Acucar which are joined by four cable cars - two going between Praia Vermelha to Morro da Urca and two between Morro da Urca and Pao de Acucar. Urca Mountain (Morro da Urca) is 220m high and Sugar Loaf (Pao de Acucar), 396m high.
Beaches
It's almost impossible for a visitor to Rio to resist the enchantment of its eight kilometers of beaches.
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