April 2009 - Travel Stripe

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Travel Stripe - April 2009

Rio Centro, Part IV; Cinelandia

April 30th 2009 02:55

As the name suggests, this was the land of movie dreams. It was built on the vision of Mayor Pereira Passos at the beginning of the 20th century.

Avenida Rio Branco, Cinelandia

Laying waste old, narrow streets and run-down buildings, broad, new, Parisian-style Avenida Rio Branco forged a path from the inner city to Flamenco beach. Monuments to the nation’s grandeur like the art nouveau Biblioteca Nacional and the neo-classical Museu de Belas Artes stood side by side with glamorous cafés terrasses. The centerpiece of the Avenida was the magnificent Teatro Municipal, designed by the Mayor’s son, Francisco Oliveira Passos and modeled on the Paris Opera. A romantic sculpture in the Piazza told the story of a young country nurtured by the church and sheltered by the state. The new area of Rio Centro was the domain of Rio’s smart set - there to see and be seen. Later, Avenida Rio Branco lit up with neon, the city’s first cinemas opened their doors on silver screen dreams for a new smart set. Avenida Rio Branco became Cinelandia.

Cinelandia's statue

All this is still there, down in Cinelandia but its grandeur has faded. The mosaic pavements are dotted with broken tiles. The Teatro Municipal is shrouded in scaffolding while the Biblioteca Nacional and the Museu de Belas Artes are jaded. Most of the cinemas are now evangelical Christian churches, opening their doors on a new vision for a not so smart set. Rio’s dispossessed and homeless wait at the bus stops, but not for buses. Skinny kids play around the statue under the indifferent gaze of a stone priest. Still, Cinelandia is a Rio “must see”, a special glimpse of what it once was, what it has become and what it could be.

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Rio Centro, Part III; France in Rio

April 29th 2009 04:15

Although the Portuguese Royal family had fled Europe ahead of Napoleon’s army, their respect for French culture was as strong as their fear of French military might. In establishing Rio de Janeiro as the centre of the new Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarve, they turned to France for inspiration. All over old Rio Centro there are lovely little pockets of la belle France.

Rua Ouvidor

The first regent, Dom Joao VI, drew heavily on the expertise of the French Mission which arrived in Rio in 1816. The Mission brought many artists, including Jean Baptiste Debret and Nicolas Taunay, who laid the foundations for the development of a national art. It also brought a number of paintings which were to form the basis of a national collection. Most importantly, the Mission brought architects like Grandjean de Montigny, who shaped much of the cityscape of old Rio, including the beautiful neo-classical building in Avenida Branco, which is now the Museu de Belas Artes. De Montigny’s greatest triumph, however, was the Casa Franca-Brasil on Rua Visconde de Itaborai. This magnificent neo-classical building has twenty four Doric columns, made of wood, but painted in trompe l’oeil to look like marble, which support a huge dome with a central skylight. It first opened in 1820 as the city stock exchange. After stints as a customs house and a bank archive, the Casa Fraca-Brasil is now a cultural centre.

Amarelinho

Over the next century the people of Rio continued to look to France. The Belle Epoque took its own special form in Rio Centro. Narrow, quaint Rua Ouvidor is lined with cafes, bars and tiny shops with an air of old Paris. The Confiteria Manon and, further away, in Rua Concalvas Dias, the Confiteiria Colombo, have all the style of Parisen Salons de Thé. The faded grandeur of Amarelinho, on Cinelandia’s Avenida Rio Branco, smacks of the brasseries of Paris. Nearby, the Teatro Municipal, designed by Francisco Oliveira Passos and opened in 1909, is modeled on the Paris Opera.

Teatro Municipal, currently under renovation

Rio’s architectural and cultural debt to France was brilliantly acknowledged in this year’s Carnaval. Samba school Grande Rio chose France in Rio as its theme and not only rebuilt old “French” Rio, but also brought to life the “style de vie” of those times. The coup de grace was that the French Government funded the venture!