Attractions
Imperial Summer Palace
Address: Rua da Imperatriz, 220 - Centro, Petrópolis - RJ, 25610-320, Brazil .At the behest of Brazilian Emperor Pedro II, sone of the King of Portugal and previous Brazilian Emperor Pedro I, construction began on this beautiful neoclassical building in 1845 but was only completed in 1862. Prior to preparing for its construction, Pedro II first signed a decree on March 16, 1843, creating the city of Petrópolis, named in homage to himself.
São Pedro de Alcântara Cathedral
Address: R. São Pedro Alcântara, 60 - Centro, Petrópolis - RJ, 25685-300, Brazil .Commonly referred to as the Cathedral of Petropolis, its proper name is in honor of Saint Peter of Alcantara, a Spanish priest who was canonized in 1669 and was named patron saint of Brazil in 1826.
Construction began in 1884, five years prior to the end of the Brazilian monarchy, and was not completed until 1925, five years prior to the end of Brazil's oligarchic republic.
The cathedral is the resting place of Brazil's second (and last) emperor, Dom Pedro II, who commissioned its construction but never lived to see it. The emperor died in exile in Paris and his remains were repatriated decades later. Other members of the Brazilian royal family were also laid to rest at the cathedral's imperial mausoleum, including the emperor's grandson who shares its name, Prince Pedro de Alcântara (also the great-grandson of King Louis-Philippe I of France).
Rio Negro Palace
Address: Av. Köeller, 255 - Centro, Petrópolis - RJ, 25685-060, Brazil .For decades the presidential summer residence, the Palacio Rio Negro was built shortly after the end of the monarchy in 1889 by the Baron of Rio Negro. He resided their relatively briefly, having moved to Paris and sold the home to the State to be used as the gubernatorial residence during Petropolis' brief period as the capital of the State of Rio de Janeiro at the turn of the 20th Century. Thereafter, it became the property of the federal government, then seated in the city of Rio de Janeiro, and became the summer residence for several of Brazil's presidents. Its use as such dropped off after Brazil's capital moved from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia in 1960. No Brazilian president stayed at this residence throughout the 70's and 80's. In the 1990's the presidential summer palace had a revival but has recently been turned into a museum.
"The Enchanted" - Santos Dumont Cottage
Address: R. do Encanto, 22 - Centro, Petrópolis - RJ, 25685-081 .In 1918 aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont built his summer retreat on a small hillside in the center of the city of Petropolis. He selection of a rather steep and unlikely piece of land for a home was a testament to his ingenuity. From the external staircase that requires one to begin right foot first to the internal staircase for which one must begin left foot first, Alberto Santos-Dumont’s eccentricities pervade the residence. Known in Paris as “le petit Santos”, Alberto Santos-Dumont built a house as diminutive as his stature and as eccentric as his personality.
Alberto Santos-Dumont, the youngest son of an enormously successful coffee producer referred to as the Coffee King of Brazil, is considered by many to be the true father of aviation, having set the first flight record recognized by the International Aeronautic Federation in 1906. His flights that year were filmed and witnessed by hundreds in Paris. Alberto Santos-Dumont is also credited with popularizing the wristwatch. Previously unheard of, the wristwatch so common today was developed by jeweler Louis Cartier for his trend-setting friend Alberto Santos-Dumont, to facilitate time-keeping while in flight.
Around the corner from his summer home is a replica of Santos-Dumont’s fist flying machine, in the plaza named after that aircraft, 14 Bis.
