Rio de Janeiro was the capital of Brazil until 1960, and it is still country's main port. This city is really big and very populated, so the number of sights that our visitors can visit is significant. Due to its incredible geographical position, Rio is adorned not only with cultural institutions, monuments and churches, but also with numerous tourist attractions that are located on the surrounding hills, from where an incredible view of the city is offered. Browse our list of sights and get to know Rio de Janeiro.
Flamengo Park, known as Aterro, opened on October 17, 1965. The park project was done by architect Affonso Eduardo Reidy, its recreational program was developed by Bauzer Ethel Medeiros, while the lighting was done by American designer Richard Kelly. Covering an area of about 120 hectares, located between Santos Dumont Airport and Botafogo Beach, Flamengo Park is the largest urban park in the world, its located by the sea and part of the world heritage under the protection of UNESCO since 2012. It is the largest open-air city area and offers various options for sports, recreation, culture and entertainment.
The aquarium in Rio de Janeiro - AquaRio - covers an area of 26.000 m2. The aquarium includes 5 floors with 28 pools, which contain 4.5 million liters of salt water. It is the largest aquarium in Brazil and South America. About three thousand animals of 350 different species can be found in various marine ecosystems. Biologist Marcelo Szpilman is in charge of the conception, direction and technical responsibility of the project.
Pedra da Gávea is the largest coastal monolith in Brazil, rising to a height of 844 m from the ocean, separating the neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Conrado in the east and Bãrra da Tijuca in the west. Pedra da Gávea is a huge rock surrounded by native, lush vegetation, in the Atlantic rainforest. This massive rock is made of granite, and the rock itself looks eroded. As time passed, the damage caused by nature gave the vertical part of the rock the appearance of a human face. This natural incident led to many speculations whether it was all caused by nature or some ancient civilization. Portuguese explorers gave the mountain the name Gávea in 1502, due to the similarity in the appearance of the crow's nest. So, the name Pedro da Gávea basically means the Stone of the Crow's Nest.
The Pedra Bonita trail is located within the Tijuca National Park, sector C, between Pedra da Gávea and São Conrado and the Barre da Tijuca district. There are steep sections on the trail as well as those that do not have natural sun protection. Hiking on the trail is nice because visitors pass through wooded areas with dense forest. The surprise comes when you reach the top, which offers a beautiful view of the Gávea stone, the beaches of Barra, São Conrado, Leblon and Ipanema.
Vista Chinesa is an amazing place built in the early twentieth century, between 1902 and 1906. It was made with the aim of paying tribute to the Chinese culture and people in Brazil by growing and importing tea in the country. The creator of the work is the architect Luís Rey. His idea was to build a place, in the middle of a clearing, where one can enjoy the beautiful landscape that surrounds him.
