The Catete Palace is an urban mansion in the neighborhood of Catete, in Rio de Janeiro. The property stretches from Rua do Catete to Flamengo Beach. Construction began in 1858 and ended in 1867. From 1894 to 1960, it was Brazil’s presidential palace, where the President resided when Rio was the capital of Brazil, and the place where Getúlio Vargas committed suicide. It is now home to the Museum of the Republic, and a theater; the Catete metro station is adjacent to this landmark.
Meeting at 14:30h at Rio & Learn
Costs: R$ 6,50 (metro) + R$ 6,00 (Museum Ticket)
Park Hours
(The museum and park are closed on Mondays)
8 am to 5 pm
Museum Hours
Tuesday to Friday: 10 am to 5 pm
Saturday, Sunday and public holidays: 11 am to 5 pm
Many different stories are told about this palace, especially concerning the death of Getúlio Vargas which still holds some mysteries! Even if his death was ruled as a suicide, there are a lot of conspiracy theories about it! You will be able to see in the museum not only ancient furniture, documents and pictures, but also Getúlio’s pyjamas with the bullet hole and the weapon used by him. As he said in his last farewell, he was “leaving life to enter history”.
The undeniable truth is that it is a very beautiful site with awesome architecture, where people can learn a lot about Brazil and our transitions from a monarchy to a republic. It is a fantastic combination of nature and architecture in an urban setting. You will not only learn about history and visit the palace, one of Rio’s treasures for nature lovers are the gardens of Palácio do Catete. Grassy lawns, lots of trees, with a lake and even a cave! You can rest in the shade of 19th century palm trees and even interact with some wildlife such as ducks and little marmoset monkeys.
In this activity we will walk through the quiet, charming park belonging to the palace, and work our way towards the inside of the building. It is a nice place to relax, talk, practice our Portuguese, enjoy the company of our colleagues, all while visiting the last presidential palace of Rio de Janeiro. How about we go and see this wonderful place? Come with us and enjoy another interesting and historical landmark in Rio with our RioLIVE! Activity.
See here our last visits to Parque do Catete:
