Museums of Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro was for centuries the most important city in the country, its special location and the importance of its port for trade with Europe made it first become the capital of the Brazilian colony and then the capital of the kingdom of Portugal. Later, achieved independence, Rio established itself as the capital of the Empire of Brazil and finally of the Republic until 1960.
This preeminence resulted in, among others, a great cultural development and has made until today the museums of Rio de Janeiro are some of the most important in all of Brazil.
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History museums
To learn more about the country’s history, the best option is the National Historical Museum, located in what was one of the most important defensive forts during the colonial era. In this museum you can see clothes and objects belonging to the different native Brazilian tribes and take a tour through history until the imperial era and the beginning of the Republic. Who is interested in knowing more about the way of life of the aboriginal tribes, can find more information in the Museum of the Indian, located in the neighborhood of Botafogo.
One of the largest museums in Rio de Janeiro is the UFRJ National Museum, in Quinta da Boa Vista. What once was the residence of King João VI, has become an important museum of Anthropology and Natural History, with such a large collection that goes from dinosaur skeletons, Egyptian mummies, pre-Columbian pottery pieces and thousands of animals dissected, even a great meteorite.
Art and culture
The imposing building that houses the National Museum of Fine Arts, dates from the era of the city’s boom in the early twentieth century, as well as the Municipal Theater and the National Library. For its part, modern and contemporary art have several exhibition spaces in Rio de Janeiro, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art located in Niteroi, on the other side of the bay. The latter is famous above all for its unique design, designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer.
Several museums in Rio de Janeiro show private collections now open to the public, such as the Chácara do Céu Museum or the Eva Klabin House Museum, where you can see interesting archaeological pieces as well as works by famous artists such as Degas, Matisse, Miró or Rembrandt
Brazil is a great producer of precious stones, so whoever is interested in the subject can visit the H Stern Museum, where the origin of each stone is explained and the crimping processes are shown. Of course, the visit ends in a huge exhibition hall where your finished jewelry is sold.
Main museums of Rio de Janeiro
AquaRio
The new Rio de Janeiro aquarium, known as AquaRio, has become one of the main attractions of the old center of a city that, thanks to the 2016 Olympic Games, has undergone an interesting renovation and recovery process. Read more »
Museum of Tomorrow
With the Museum of Tomorrow a new generation of science museums in the world is inaugurated. Through audiovisuals, interactive installations and games, you can examine the past, understand the present and imagine possible futures. Read more »
National museum of fine arts
The large collection of the National Museum of Fine Arts includes more than 18,000 pieces of painting, sculpture and engravings. On the ground floor there are two long sculpture galleries where you can see plaster reproductions of famous pieces. Read more »
Rio Art Museum
Created as part of the Revitalization and Recovery Project of the port area of Rio de Janeiro, the Rio Art Museum was inaugurated with the aim of becoming one of the largest spaces for the dissemination of art in the city. Read more »
UFRJ National Museum
The UFRJ National Museum has a wide variety of collections. Among the most prominent pieces are the Egyptian mummies and sarcophagi, huge dinosaur skeletons, prehistoric animal fossils. Read more »
National historical museum
Located between the Aterro do Flamengo and Santos Dumont airport, the National Historical Museum houses one of the most important collections in all of Brazil, with more than 287,000 pieces that go from the time before the Portuguese arrived. Read more »
MAC Niteroi
The Museum of Contemporary Art of Rio de Janeiro, familiarly known as MAC Niteroi, is one of the main attractions of the city, not only for the works of art it exhibits but for the building itself Oscar Niemeyer’s work. Read more »
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, also known as MAM, is based in Parque do Flamengo and its main building is a sample of modern Brazilian architectural design from the mid-20th century. Read more »
Museum of Image and Sound
The Museum of Image and Sound will offer a journey through the cultural history of Rio, a city well known throughout the world for carnival, samba and bossa nova. The MIS is a contemporary museum that wants to show the Carioca culture. Read more »
Other museums of interest
Chácara do Céu Museum
The Chácara do Céu Museum houses an important collection of works of art gathered over decades by Castro Maya and his father, many of them acquired in the multiple trips they made to France. Read more »
Naif Art Museum
Just 50 meters from the Corcovado train station, the Naif Art Museum in Rio de Janeiro contains one of the largest collections in the world of its kind and covers five centuries of Naif Art from the 15th century to the present. Read more »
Indian Museum
Created with the purpose of raising public awareness about the importance of the conservation of Brazilian indigenous cultures and the promotion of their cultural heritage, the Museo del Indio (Museu do Indio) has its current headquarters in the Botafogo neighborhood. Read more »
Eva Klabin House Museum
Located in the Lagoa neighborhood, on the banks of the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, the Eva Klabin House Museum in Rio de Janeiro, exposes the valuable artistic heritage gathered by its founder over more than five decades and countless trips. Read more »
H Stern Museum
It is a museum-workshop where, through crystals, you can see the gemology laboratory where cutters, carvers, craftsmen and goldsmiths work. It also has an excellent jewelry store. Read more »
Football Museum
With 1,000 square meters of extension, the museum presents a detailed journey through the history of Brazilian football and its main exploits. The first room tells the origins of the national team and exposes the history of its players. Read more »
