National Museums of Brazil

One of the most important historical landmarks of Brazil are the national museums of Brazil. While these are important sites of tourist attractions, the national museums offer an important glimpse and preview into the cultural heritage and past of the country. The rich and diverse Brazilian heritage has been documented well in these museums. While some of them focus exclusively on the fine arts, others are important storehouses of manuscripts, documents, articles, photographs, artifacts, letters and other displays, reflecting on the culture, genealogy, folklore, arts, royal family, politics, lifestyle and crafts, among others. There are three national museums of Brazil, namely, National Museum of Brazil, National Historical Museum of Brazil and National Museum of Fine Arts. All of these national museums are located in and around the important city of Rio de Janeiro. The significance and the focus areas of the all the three national museums differ, making them must see tourist attractions in Rio de Janeiro.

Originating from the Santiago Fort, the National Historical Museum was established in 1922 and is spread over an area of 9000 square meters. While the museum is an important tourist attraction, it is also the most important of all the national museums of Brazil. There are range of temporary and permanent exhibitions in the museum, with guided tours at specific time of the day. At the same time, there is held periodically seminars, courses, video exhibitions and a range of other activities for students. While the library alone displays a total of 57,000 original titles, there are 287,000 items displayed in the exhibitions. It is the only national museum which offers a course in museology. The museum is known for its amazing collection of artifacts and manuscripts, reflecting on important aspects of Brazilian life. At the same time, the artifacts are stored and preserved through state of the art techniques. While it has organized several social projects over the years, the National Historical Museum is home to the Portuguese-Brazilian Reference Center. The wide range of themes covered by the museum is a paradise for lovers of history, with collections on topics such as fashion, genealogy, fine arts, heraldic and museology, among others.

National Museum of Brazil is one of the oldest national museums of Brazil, its history dating back to 1818, when it was home to many exotic birds and animals. It was then popularly known as the House of Birds, one of the popular attractions in Rio de Janeiro for the naturalists of the nation. It was in the later half of the 19th century that the museum also included in its collections artifacts from anthropology, archeology and paleontology, among others. Today it comprises many important exhibits of animals, minerals, utensils and other artifacts of native tribes, Egyptian tribes, fossils and meteorites, among others. The National Museum of Fine Arts, on the other hand, located in Rio de Janeiro can be traced back to 1808 and is one of the most important museums of Brazil. The museum is home to some of the most important fine arts of the 19th and the early 20th century, including decorative arts, painting, sculpture and folk art, among others.

Know more about the popular museums in Brazil at Museum Tours in Brazil.