Monday, 20 October 2014
Then we walked back towards where the Municipal Theatre was, passing by the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil and Casa Franca-Brasil on the way. Also on the way, I noticed many shophouses with really old designs, and it looked like the downstairs were shops and the owners lived upstairs, not unlike many of the shophouses in Malaysia. Except I think these shophouses were probably built by the Portuguese way back when, because the doors and windows are those that opened outward, something that you don't see nowadays in modern architecture.
Then we came to the Paco Imperial or Imperial Palace, which I found a bit disappointing because I was expecting something grand but it looked like a really big square house to me. Nevertheless, it is a historic building, built in 1743 and used as a residence for the royal family who fled from Portugal to Brazil. Apparently when it was built, it was the only building in Rio with glass windows at the time. When the royal family moved to a larger palace, this building was used as a government building. From one of the windows here, King Dom Pedro I announced to his subjects that he would disobey his father's orders and remain in Brazil. This episode is known as the Dia da Fico, and would eventually result in Brazil's independence. The Lei Aurea, the law which abolished slavery in Brazil, was signed by Princess Isabel (granddaughter of Dom Pedro I) here.
Just beside the Paco Imperial is the Palacio Tiradentes, built in 1926 on the spot where the old jail was formerly located. This is where Tiradentes, who was a hero of independence, was held prisoner in 1792 before being hung and decapitated. There is a statue of him in front of the building. Today it is the congress building. There was a group gathered there protesting against abortions.
Nearby is the Sao Jose church. This is a church dedicated to Saint Joseph, Mother Mary's husband and Jesus' stepfather. I have no idea why there would be a church dedicated to Joseph, as far as I am aware he is not the patron saint of anything. Anyway, this church dates back to 1608, although it has been renovated and restored over the years. We went to this church because Joao told us to go behind the altar, there is a 'secret' there that not many people are aware of. The 'secret' behind the altar was that there are statues of the holy family there - Joseph lying on the bed, Mary holding his hand on one side and Jesus looking down upon him on the other side. It was a nice thing to behold, and beautiful of course, like all churches in South America.
Then Sebastian wanted to go to this place called Confiteria Colombo, which is something like Rio's version of Cafe Tortoni in Buenos Aires. This confectionery was founded in 1894 (Cafe Tortoni is older!) by Portuguese immigrants. Like Cafe Tortoni, this confectionary has been patronised by celebrities, artistes and important people in Brazil over the years. There are huge mirrors on either side of the wall giving it a very spacious look; the mirrors are from Antwerp, the furniture and tiles from Europe. There is a second floor with a tearoom, and Sebastian told me that the Queen of England had a tea party there once. Here I had coffee and a brigaderio, a Brazillian chocolate delicacy which is basically a chocolate ball. Sebastian had pastel de belem, another Brazillian delicacy which is a kind of fruit tart (I tried some). Then we had a caipirinha just for fun.
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