National Library

On Avenida Rio Branco, right in Cinelândia, the National Library is the largest library in Latin America, with about 9 million items. Its imposing building shares the square with the Theatro Municipal and the National Museum of Fine Arts, forming one of Downtown’s finest architectural ensembles.

Its origins lie in Portugal’s Royal Library, rebuilt after the earthquake that destroyed Lisbon in 1755. When the Portuguese court moved to Rio in 1808, fleeing Napoleon’s troops, the collection followed to the monarchy’s new seat. The library’s official founding date in Brazil is October 29, 1810.

The current building opened in 1910, the institution’s centenary, designed by engineer Francisco Marcellino de Souza Aguiar. Its style is eclectic, with neoclassical and art nouveau elements: a colonnaded façade, a monumental staircase and high-ceilinged reading rooms that have welcomed generations of researchers.

Its treasures include a 1462 Mainz Bible, one of the earliest printed books in history, and a first edition of Camões’s The Lusiads (Os Lusíadas). The collection also holds manuscripts, maps, prints, photographs, sheet music and newspapers that tell much of Brazil’s history.

The rarest pieces are not always on display, but guided visits show the building, its halls and the institution’s history — and help you grasp the scale of what is kept here. From time to time there are also exhibitions of items from the collection.