|
National
Museum of Natural History
Old Imperial Palace
Situated in the Quinta da Boa Vista, São Cristóvão district, this palace in neoclassical style, was the former abode of the
Kings of the Portuguese Empire and Brazil when it was then called Imperial Palace
of St. Kitts neighbourhood (São Cristovão).
When João VI
(John VI) of Portugal came to Brazil in 1808, he settled first in the
Royal Palace at Square 15 where previously lived the Viceroys and Governors of Colonial Brazil.
Later
on a wealthy Portuguese Merchant "donated" to the King a house-palace built by him in 1803 on a hill,
that due to its location gave a beautiful view of Guanabara Bay, hence the name
"Quinta da Boa Vista" which means "Farm with a
beatiful view".
João
VI, Pedro I and Pedro II inhabited the site. However the Palace only
take the current form in neoclassical style after some additions and
changes. Many architectural changes were made under the charge of several architects
along the years. Even a third floor addition was built. Click to read more and see
a sequence of photos and paintings on the Imperial Palace of
São Cristovão and its transformations through the time.
Besides
this palace, the Royal Family had a summer palace located in Petrópolis
City, in the highlands or mountainous region of Rio de
Janeiro State. The Summer Imperial Palace of Petropolis is also museum open to visitors.
Unlike the Petropolis Palace,
which is an Imperial Museum, the Palace of Quinta da Boa Vista
nowdays houses the National Museum of Natural History and has a
rich collection of Brazil natural history and about the World
natural history.
In terms of architecture, both
museuns differ in that the Petropolis Palace is better conserved in terms of
interior and exterior architecture. The Petropolis Palace is
more well finished, and It was the favorite residence of Pedro
II although it is smaller and looks less grandiose.
As
far as we can visit the Palace located in Quinta da Boa Vista
Gardens and Park, at São Cristovão, there is no reference to the
royal family furniture. It is said that after the Proclamation of the Republic,
Peter II was allowed to carry with him the furniture, when he
left the country for exile in Europe, and settled in Portugal
where his relatives would live.
The museum located in the palace
has a historical and scientific natural history collection, containing fossils from
many parts of the world, huge dinosaur skeletons, costumes of Indians from
all over the world, Egyptians mummies and coffins, equipment and weapons of early civilizations
and primitive cultures, and various objects and references to
native Brazilians tribe and Brazilians indians nations.
The collection is large and
we visited the Museum in April 2008 and May 2009. The museum had
received improvements and had been renewed. Some parts of the
museun was still closed, and It seems that lots of restoration
works was still going on.
Having
the museun so many attractions, the focus of attention of every visitor depends on the area of interest.
Right
in the entrance, there is a huge meteorite, found in the eighteenth century weighing over 5 tons.
There is a room dedicated to the scientist Berta Lutz
who was also a suffragist and pioneer of the struggle for women's rights.
In
another sector, you can see a primitive tape recorder, manufactured by the company of Thomas Edison and used by
Roquette Pinto, who made several recordings of songs of
brazilian Indian ceremonies. Roquette Pinto was a brazilian phisician, anthropologist,
professor, essayist and a pioneer of radio broadcasting in
Brazil.
The museum also has a huge collection of stuffed animals from both Brazilian fauna and other
countries fauna, including birds, apes, tiger, elephant, wolf, tapir, wild boar
etc.
Certainly
all those animals, and all objects and items in the museum have been studied by researchers.
All the objects continue to be a collection available for scientific
research and knowledge.
However
for those who want to see live animals, the Rio de Janeiro Zoo
is next to the Museum, few meter aways. The Rio Zoo is also
located in Quinta da Boa Vista park.
Although
you have free access to Quinta da Boa Vista Park and Gardens, to visit the Museum
it is necessary to buy an inexpensive ticket, affordable to
anyone. To visit Rio Zoo there is a separate ticket, also
inexpensive.
Back
to the top >>
Origns, History and
Curiosities
The
Museum is also called the National Museum of UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) and also known as Museum of Quinta da Boa Vista.
Originally
the National Museum was created by the King João VI in 1818, 10 years after his arrival in Brazil.
It was then called the Royal Museum.
However,
before the criation of the Royal Museum, there existed the first Brazilian
Museum of Natural History, that was founded by the Viceroy Luis de Vasconcelos before the arrival of
the King João VI. The first Museum was known as "House of Birds" for having stuffed
birds. When the Royal Museum was completed, the birds collection
were then transferred to the Royal Museum.
The first headquarters of the Royal Museum,
created by the King João VI, was located in Campo de Santana
área, in Rio de Janeiro downtown.
Only after the proclamation of the Republic, the Museum
was changed its site to the Palace of Quinta da Boa Vista.
The building where
was the Royal Museum (now National Museum of Natural History) was subsequently occupied by the National Archives.
Back
to the top >>
Scientific Research and Development
The creation of the Royal Museum turned to stimulate the scientific know-how in Brazil. And it remains also
a research institution, with several laboratories and post-graduated courses.
The
material on display at the Museum are or were objects of research and
study by various departments such as geology, anthropology, paleontology, zoology and botanical. The Museum was incorporated into the University of Brazil in 1946, which is currently called UFRJ.
(Federal University of Rio de Janeiro)
Inside
Quinta da Boa Vista area, there is also The National Museum Library
Building and an restricted area that belong to the Department of Botany
and is called Botanical Garden of the National Museum containing ancient trees, many species of
classified and listed plants and ecological bed plants. Within the area of the Botanical Garden,
there are also installed laboratories of botany and zoology, small buildings of historical value and the building that houses the National Museum Library.
However, this area seems to be open for regular visitation, at least
in the weekend we visited Quinta da Boa Vista Park in 2009. There may be specific days or schedule for visitation.
Note:
The Rio the
Janeiro Botanical Garden is in another part of the city
and is always open to the public.
Directions to
site | How to get there:
Both the Museum and the
Rio de Janeiro Zoo are in the Quinta da Boa Vista area, and to reach the place you can use the subway and get off at station
São Cristovão. One of the park entrance gates lies just outside the station.
Visit the official museum website:
http://www.museunacional.ufrj.br/index.htm
Back
to the top >>
|
