Brazilian cities often offer nice tours to museums and the main attractions nearby. The country has more than 3 thousand museums and it’s ranked about 8th among 141 countries in cultural resources.
The museum with the highest visitation numbers in Brazil is the Imperial Museum of Petrópolis. The Imperial Museum has received 321,6 thousand visitors last year. Many other museums are worth a visit. We list below a few suggestions for your next trip to Brazil.
São Paulo Museum of Modern Art
The São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP) is an art museum located on Paulista Avenue in the city of São Paulo. It is well known for its building, a 1968 concrete and glass structure designed by Lina Bo Bardi, whose main body is supported by two lateral beams over a 74 meters freestanding space, considered a landmark of the city and a main symbol of modern Brazilian architecture. The museum is a private non-profit institution founded in 1947 by Assis Chateaubriand and Pietro Maria Bardi. MASP distinguished itself for many important initiatives concerning museology and art education in Brazil, as well as for its pioneering role as a cultural center. It was also the first Brazilian museum interested in Post-World War II artistic tendencies.
Museum of Tomorrow
The Museum of Tomorrow is a science museum in the city of Rio de Janeiro. It was designed by Spanish neofuturistic architect Santiago Calatrava, and built next to the waterfront at Pier Maua. Its construction was supported by the Roberto Marinho Foundation and cost approximately 230 million reais. The building was opened on December 17, 2015. The main exhibition takes visitors through five main areas: Cosmos, Earth, Anthropocene, Tomorrow and Now via a number of experiments and experiences. The museum mixes science with an innovative design to focus on sustainable cities.
Imperial Palace
The Paço Imperial, or Imperial Palace, previously known as the Royal Palace of Rio de Janeiro and Palace of the Viceroys, is a historic building in the center of the city of Rio de Janeiro. The Paço Imperial was built in the 18th century to serve as residence for the governors of colonial Brazil. From 1808, it was used as a royal residence by King John VI of Portugal as King of Portugal and later also as King of Brazil. In 1822 it became the city palace of the monarchs of the Empire of Brazil, Pedro I and Pedro II, who used it not as a residence, but as a workplace. It was one of the main political centers of Brazil for nearly 150 years, from 1743 to 1889. The Paço Imperial is located in the Praça XV in central Rio. Due to its architectural and historical significance, it is one of Brazil’s most important historic buildings. Today it serves as a cultural center.
Contemporary Arts Center Inhotim
Located in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, the museum’s main feature is that it is partly open-air. Works of contemporary art are part of the landscape of a 97 hectares large park. The startling collection of 350 works from 80 artists is spread across the countryside in a nonlinear sequence of pavilions set inside a botanical gardens.
Oscar Niemeyer Museum
The Oscar Niemeyer Museum in the city of Curitiba in the state of Paraná. The museum is also known as Museu do Olho, or Niemeyer’s Eye, because of the eye-shaped design of the main building. Its unusual design both from outside and from inside is the highlight of any visit here. The architecture was designed by the renowned modern architect Oscar Niemeyer when he was 95 years old. Besides providing information about Niemeyer (Brazil’s greatest architect), the museum hosts exhibitions of international and Brazilian contemporary art and has an outdoor sculpture garden.