Rio de Janeiro is well known for its beaches, specially the ones of Copacabana and Ipanema, for the impressive statue of Christ on the Corcovado Mountain (and amazing work known as the Redeemer Jesus Christ), for its Carnival celebrations and the monolith mountain “Pāo de Açúcar”.  

This city has many special geographical and urban features as well. It is located in an area that is not very favourable for city to be built there, since it is surrounded by the ocean and a mountain. Consequently, in some cases the width of the city covers no more than ten blocks.  

On the north of Leme beach, the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon is found. City planners devoted a great deal of effort to such lagoon as well.

Not only does Rio de Janeiro boast a stunning urban beauty but also a wide range of recreational, tourist and sport activities can be enjoyed here. Diving, tours around the favelas (shantytowns), wonderful beaches and a range of cultural activities are some of the many attractions that Rio de Janeiro has to offer.

The name of this mountain has been wrongly traduced into several languages as “Sugar loaf” and constitutes a folk-etymology since it has nothing to do with loaves of bread.

According to Vieira Fazenda its name is said to refer to its resemblance to the traditional shape of concentrated refined blocks sugar that were exported in the XVI century.

Hence, the most suitable name for the mountain would be “piloncillo” for the Mexicans or “panela” for the Colombians and Venezuelans, despite being popularly known as “Sugar loaf”.

The Pão de Açúcar consists of several monolithic morros: one bearing the same name, the morro da Urca and the morro da Babilônia. Together with the Redeemer Jesus Christ, this mountain is certainly the most typical feature of Río de Janeiro.

The beauty of the rock formation that rises straight from the water's edge in Guanabara Bay is a wonderful work of art as well as a tourist reference of the city.

Suggestions for building a religious monument in the city were put forward for the first time in the year 1859, by Catholic priest Pedro Maria Boss and Princess Elizabeth. A second proposal was made in 1921, when the country was to celebrate a hunred years of independence.

The first stone was placed on the 4th April 1922, but works began in 1926. Engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, artist Carlos Oswald and French sculpture Paul Landowski were some of the collaborators.

Christ the Redeemer statue is located 709 metres above sea level on top of the Corcovado Mountain. It stands 38 metres tall; eight of which belong to the pedestal. It was inaugurated on the 12th October 1931, after almost five years of work.

Not only is this statue one of the most recognised images of Rio de Janeiro but also of the whole country. Two million tourists contemplate it and turn this tourist spot into a real “Tower of Babel”.

Nowadays this statue is willing to achieve a position among “the Seven Wonders of the World”.

Carnival is an annual celebration that takes place forty days before Easter, marking the beginning of the Lent. Brazilian Carnival as a whole exhibits some differences with its counterparts in Europe and other parts of the world, and within Brazil it has distinct regional manifestations. 

Despite its catholic origin, this celebration is not so much a religious event as a profane party.  The class of carnival introduced from Europe is known as “entrudo” (from the Latin word introito, which means beginning)

“Entrudo” consisted basically in getting everybody soaked wet in order to purify the body. It was banned without meeting with much success in the mid nineteenth century since it was considered to be violent for the upper social classes. 

In the late 19th century, the cordões (literally laces in Portuguese) were introduced in Rio de Janeiro. These were groups of people who would parade through the streets playing music and dancing. These were the immediate ancestors of modern samba schools.

The "blocos" have become a big part of Rio de Janeiro's Carnival consisting of a group of people who dress in costumes according to certain themes or to celebrate the Carnival. Samba schools, “blocos” and bands occupy whole neighbourhoods of Rio.

Engeneer Joan Esteban was in charge of the first works regarding this stadium which was inaugurated on the 24th June 1950 under the name of Municipal Stadium. Later, in 1964 it was named after the journalist Mario Filho, who founded the Journal dos Sports. 

Nevertheless, local people still know it as Maracana stadium. This name stems from a bird that used to inhabit the place where the stadium is located nowadays.

Here, the 1950 world cup final between Brazil and Uruguay took place. Uruguay beat, against all odds, their Brazilian counterpart at the Maracanã stadium by 2 goals to 1, and as a result, the term “Maracanazo” is used in reference to this game.

During the 1950 football world cup, Brazil was highly likely to become the world champion, since the final match was being played at home and there were 200,000 supporters.

Uruguay had encountered extreme difficulties in their previous matches managing only a tight draw with Spain and narrow victories over easy opponents. Hence, hopes of achieving a second title were dashing.

Consequently, firmly believing that Brazil would be the next world champion, it was agreed that the stadium’s facade would be painted with the winner team’s colours. Needless to say, most Brazilians were certain that the stadium would be painted green and yellow.

Much to everyone’s surprise, Uruguay managed to turn over the results and win, making the stadium become light blue. The crowd of two hundred thousand people stood in disbelief as they lose a title they had already considered rightfully theirs.

The stadium will remain light blue forever in commemoration of Uruguay, the 1950 world champion. It is said that now matter if Brazil wins the world celebration which will be held in the year 2014, the colour of the stadium will remain unchanged.

The best known beaches and the most frequently visited ones by tourists and local people are Copacabana, Leblon, Prainha, Grumari, Arpoador, Do Pepino, Barra da Guaratiba, Da Barra da Tijuca, Do Pepe, De Botafogo and Do Flamengo.