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Rio de Janeiro
UNESCO
world heritage sites
Guanabara Bay
on
Ribeira
Guanabara Bay's once rich and diversified ecosystem has suffered extensive damage in recent decades, particularly along its mangrove areas. The bay has been heavily impacted by urbanization, deforestation, and pollution of its waters with sewage, garbage, and oil spills. As of 2014, more than 70% of the sewage from 12 million inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro now flows into the bay untreated.
Valongo Wharf
***
on
Plaza del Jornal do Comércio
At the end of the 1820s, the slave trade to Brazil was at its peak. Rio de Janeiro was then an important commercial slave trading post, and Valongo was the main gateway for blacks from Angola, East and Central West Africa
Flamengo Park
on
Avenida Infante Dom Henrique
Flamengo Park was conceived and designed by Lota de Macedo Soares, with Modernist park gardens and civic landscapes designed by world-renowned landscape designer and artist Roberto Burle Marx.
Sugarloaf Mountain
at
Av. Pasteur, 520
Rising 396 m (1,299 ft) above the harbor, its name is said to refer to its resemblance to the traditional shape of concentrated refined loaf sugar. It is known worldwide for its cableway and panoramic views of the city.
Dog Face Morro
on
Praia Vermelha, Urca
The houses in the Urca neighborhood reflect the phases of development. The design of the houses range from the late 1920s to 1940s and showcases the most popular designs of the time. From the art deco houses to faux Spanish colonial style and mock Tudor houses, the neighborhood has aptly captured all the cultural influences of the ages. This neighborhood has managed to preserve its architectural beauty and not given in to crass developments that the rest of the city has been subjected to.
Copacabana Beach
on
Copacabana
Copacabana beach, located at the Atlantic shore, stretches from Posto Dois (lifeguard watchtower Two) to Posto Seis (lifeguard watchtower Six). Leme is at Posto Um (lifeguard watchtower One). There are historic forts at both ends of Copacabana beach; Fort Copacabana, built in 1914, is at the south end by Posto Seis and Fort Duque de Caxias, built in 1779, at the north end. One curiosity is that the lifeguard watchtower of Posto Seis never existed. Hotels, restaurants, bars, nightclubs and residential buildings dot the promenade facing Avenida Atlantica.
Botanical Garden
at
R. Jardim Botanico, 1008
The Botanical Garden shows the diversity of Brazilian and foreign flora. There are around 6,500 species (some endangered) distributed throughout an area of 54 hectares (130 acres) as well as numerous greenhouses. The garden also houses monuments of historical, artistic, and archaeological significance.
Tijuca National Park
at
Estr. da Cascatinha, 850
The Tijuca Forest is a man-made reclamation of land around Rio de Janeiro that had previously been cleared and developed to grow sugar and coffee. Replanting was carried out by Major Manuel Gomes Archer in the second half of the 19th century in a successful effort to protect Rio's water supply.
Corcovado hill
at
Alto da Boa Vista
The most popular attraction of Corcovado mountain is the statue and viewing platform at its peak, drawing over 300,000 visitors per year. From the peak's platform the panoramic view includes downtown Rio, Sugarloaf Mountain, the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas (lake), Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, Estádio do Maracanã (Maracanã Stadium), and several of Rio's favelas.