A little history: The city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was once the capital of Portugal, making it the only European capital in history located outside of Europe.
In 1807, Napoleon invaded Portugal in an attempt by France to control Spain and Portugal. The Portuguese prince regent, Dom João, immediately fled the capital city of Lisbon and set sail for Brazil, a Portuguese colony at the time, taking refuge in the colonial capital of Rio de Janeiro with his family, nobles, and trusted advisers.
Dom João transformed his new home into a bona fide political capital, outfitting the city with all necessary offices to run an empire, including a Supreme Court, Royal Mint, and Council of State. He also established the Bank of Brazil, one of the world’s oldest continuously operating banks. When Napoleon suffered his famous final defeat at Waterloo in June 1815, it ended his threat to Portugal, but the royals remained in Brazil, and six months later, Dom João designated the dominions of Portugal as one empire under the “United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves.” Brazil was given equal status to Portugal and was no longer considered a colony, and because Rio was the home of the monarchy at the time, it became the capital city of the entire kingdom.
The prince ascended the throne as King John VI in 1816 and remained in Brazil until 1821, when he was forced to return to Lisbon due to civil unrest. His son Dom Pedro was tasked with presiding over Brazil. Around this time, the Portuguese parliament in Lisbon urged the monarchy to restore Brazil to its former dependent colonial status and for Dom Pedro to return to Portugal. In direct defiance, he remained abroad, as declared in his speech “Fico” (“I Am Staying”). He proclaimed Brazil’s independence on September 7, 1822, and was crowned emperor on December 1; Rio de Janeiro served as the capital city of the newly independent country until 1960, when the city of Brasília took its place. (From History Facts).
From our city tour this morning: Architecturally, Rio is not that fascinating, but the street art is amazing and just watching the hustle and bustle, people going about their daily lives is interesting.
The metropolitan cathedral is a huge surprise! Situated amongst banking and petrochemical company skyscrapers, the cathedral was built between 1964 and 1979 and replaced as seat of the Archdiocese a series of churches that had served as cathedrals since 1676.
Inspired by Mayan pyramids, the structure stands at a height of 75 meters (246 feet) and features four stunning stained glass windows that stretch from floor to ceiling. The cathedral seats 5,000, but has overall capacity for 20,000 standing.
Some of the street art:
Escadaria Selarón, locally known as the ‘Lapa Steps’ for being situated in the “Lapa” neighborhood, is a set of world-famous steps. They are the work of Chilean-born artist Jorge Selarón who claimed it as “my tribute to the Brazilian people”.
The story started in the 1990s when Selarón started renovating the steps in front of his house. With a bucket of cement, hand painted tiles, and his own money, the Chilean set about transforming his neighborhood which had become neglected and dilapidated. Over time, his work inspired others and became an on-going artistic collaboration as different people began to donate tiles. Now over 2,000 colorful tiles from over 60 countries make these steps a top destination in Rio.
We spent a few hours on the beach in the late afternoon when there was some good cloud cover, but still plenty of entertainment.
