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Corcovado
and Christy The
Reedmeer Statue
Corcovado mountain has a railway that goes through the jungle of Tijuca National Park and takes you to the top of the mountain where you have a view to the city. It is a must as long as with Sugar
Loaf.
If you want to go there on your own, you can take the right bus at Copacabana Av, and get off at Corcovado train station. The bus stop is next to the station. Once there, there is two ways to go up Corcovado. By car (taxi / yellow cab) or railway. By railway is the most beautiful and least expensive way.
The best time to visit It is in the daytime on sunny days.
The Corcovado Railway
More than 600 thousand people a year are taken to the summit of Corcovado mountain by Its 100 years old railway, the oldest tourist spot in the country.
Through the train windows you can see the woods which is part of Tijuca National Park; the biggest urban forest in the world.
The first renowned passenger to climb the Corcovado hill by train was Dom Pedro II, emperor of Brazil, who inaugurated the railway in October 9th, 1884. The train, steam powered at that time, was considered a miracle of engineering for its capacity of performing 3.824 meters of very steep railways.
The
railway is even older than the monument of Christ. It was this same train that carried for 4 years the parts of the statue to be assembled at the summit of the hill.
In 1910, steam trains were replaced by electric ones. The Corcovado Railway was the first eletricfied Brazilian railwya. The railway was modernized and new trains were brought from Switzerland in 1979.
The train departs every 30 minutes during daytime.
The
Monument: The Christ statue was built between 1927 and 1931.
The
Paineiras Hotel:
Along
with the railway it was built the Paineiras Hotel at the highest
end of railway, and inaugurated in the same day as the railway. The Hotel was
renovated and rebuilt many times along the years. The old hotel was closed in 1984.
Famous
people and celebrities stayed there such as Brazilians President Washington Luis, Getúlio Vargas, Café Filho and the famous actress Sarah
Bernhardt. The 1970 World Cup Champion Brazilian Football Team stayed there for a period of time before
going to the World Cup in Mexico.
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Sugar
Loaf
Sugar
Loaf and its cable cars that takes you to the top of two
mountains and It is a must along with Corcovado. Once you get there you
have wonderful views of the city.
If
you want to go there on your own, you can take the bus to Urca
at Copacabana Avenue, and get off at Urca beach. The bus stop is
next to the cable car station.You will see the cable car station
that take you to Sugar Loaf. (Ask the driver to tell you, when
you get there.)
It's
a good idea visiting Sugar Loaf around 17:00 ( 5:00 PM) to see
Rio Landscape at day and night. (Avoid cloudy days to visito
Sugar Loaf or Corcovado)
The
cable car departs every 30 minutes during daytime and early
evening.
31
million tourists had visited Sugar Loaf when it turned 90 year
old in 2002.
In
December, January, February and July – high season – 3000
people climb the Sugar Loaf by Its cable cars.
In
the 70´s, an amphitheater named The Green Shell (Concha Verde)
was built on the top of Urca Hill, the first stage to Sugar
Loaf. Brazilians musicians has performed there. John Mayall, the
English blues singer is one the foreign artists that has
performed there.
A
challenge to engineering : The cable car history is directly
linked to its creator, engeneer Augusto Ferreira Ramos, who
imagined an aerial way to the Sugar Loaf in 1908.
The
Sugar Loaf Company (Companhia Caminho Aéreo Pão de Açúcar)
was then founded and in 1910 the construction of the first
Brazilian cable car was initiated. Brazilians and Portuguese
worked on it with German equipment and materials, which were
transported to the top of the mountains by hundreds of workmen.
At that time, It was a dangerous and daring engineering
operation.
The
first 575m stage, between Praia Vermelha and Morro da Urca, was
completed on 27 October 1912. 577 people went up on the wooden
car with a capacity for 24 passengers on this day. On 18 January
of the following year the stage Urca to Pão de Açucar was
inaugurated.
In
1969, the Sugar Loaf Company was allowed to double the aerial
line with 2 new and modern cable car service with 4 cars, each
one carrying 75 passengers. The works took two years and was
completed on 29 October 1972.
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Old Sugar Loaf Cable Car
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