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Description
Brief history Brasilia was constructed between 1956 and 1960, during the government of President Juscelino Kubitschek. It was inaugurated, as Brazil's new capital, in April 21, 1960. Its master plan ("Plano Piloto") was conceived by Lucio Costa, and its major buildings were designed by Oscar Niemeyer.
	Planned for only 500,000 inhabitants, Brasilia has seen its population grow much more than expected. Several satellite towns have been created over the years to house the extra inhabitants. Brasilia's total population (including the satellite cities) is around 2,000,000 inhabitants.
Follow this link to find a much more complete text about Brasilia's history, or click here to see photos showing the construction of Brasilia. See the four different meanings the word "Brasilia" has. Positive and negative aspects of Brasilia: - Positive: the city is not threatened by any kind of natural disaster; virtually no air pollution; many and large green areas. good climate: the temperature is very pleasant all over the year (never too hot, never too cold), and sunny days (and beautiful sunsets) are very common. - Negative: housing prices are very high, compared to other Brazilian cities; public transportation is inefficient.
	The urban bus system has a lot of deficiencies; the construction of Brasilia's subway is going slowly because of funds shortage. As a consequence, most of the people who have cars commute by car; foreign people usually dislike the small quantity of people that can be found on the streets, and the large distances between the buildings; the newer satellite towns have very few green areas, unlike some other satellite towns and the Pilot Plan itself; many of the famous buildings are beautiful but not functional. * Note: I think it's often easier to point negative than positive points about any city. I love to live in Brasilia and I would not like to move to any other city (in the last 5 years, I have visited dozens of cities, both from Brazil and from more than 20 countries). It is also important to say that, according to inquires, most of Brasilia's inhabitants like to live in the city.
Brasilia from the past to the present. Follow this link to find a complete text about Brasilia's history. You may find some comments and texts about Brasilia that talk about a city that no longer exists. Follow this link to find what have changed. Tourist sights: - Churches: Cathedral - designed by Oscar Niemeyer. In 1989 it was painted white, and its glasses were replaced by new color ones, designed by Antonia Marianne Peretti. Dom Bosco Sanctuary. Igreja Nossa Senhora de Fαtima ('Our Lady of Fatima Church'), usually called 'Igrejinha' ('Small Church'). LBV Ecumenic temple. The interior of LBV has many interesting sites to visit. - Buildings and Monuments: Praηa dos Trκs Poderes ('Square of the Three Powers'), around which you could see various important Government buildings - the Congresso Nacional (Congress), the Palacio do Planalto ('Planalto Palace'), and the 'Supremo Tribunal Federal' (High Court) - as well as monuments (such as Liberty Panteon).
	Beside the 'Praηa' you will also be able to see the National Flag and the 'Espaηo Lucio Costa', in which you will find a mock-up of Brasilia. Palαcio da Alvorada (Palace of Dawn), the official residence of the President. Catetinho, first presidential residence of the city. The building was built in only 10 days and inaugurated in October 31, 1956. Teatro Nacional Claudio Santoro (National Theater). JK Memorial. - Bird's eye views of the city: From the specially made platform 75 meters high at the 224 m TV Tower; Flying in an helicopter. The heliport is close to the TV Tower; Flying in a "ultraleve" (an ultra light and simple aircraft which can take just one passenger and the pilot). An amazing experience, if you fly in a sunny day. Phone numbers: 224-7035 , 984-5507 and 983-8727. At "Espaηo Lucio Costa", located in the underground of "Praηa dos Trκs Poderes", there is scale model of the city. - Some of the many other tourist sights: Stained glass windows in CEF's building - 26 all together, each one represents one state of Brazil. Botanic Garden; Zoologic; Brasilia National Park. City Park; Handicraft Fair, next to the TV Tower. Opens on weekends and holidays. - Tourist attractions in cities near Brasilia: Chapada dos Veadeiros.
This National Park is located about 250 km (around 155 miles) from the city of Brasilia, in the North of the state of Goias. In the Park there are many beautiful waterfalls as well as rock canyons and hot water springs. In the nearby city of Alto Paraiso there are many esoteric and new age groups - the town is often called "Capital of the Third Millennium". We have a specific page about Chapada dos Veadeiros, with many photos. Pirenopolis is a nice town about 100 miles from the city of Brasilia. It has some nice colonial buildings and many beautiful waterfalls. See some pictures of Pirenopolis.
	Some attractions located not only in Brasilia but also in nearby cities are listed in this page from another site. * Don't miss the other excellent photos of Brasilia that you find in our site! Meeting points: Gilberto Salomγo: very crowded on Fridays and Saturdays by night. Lots of bars, restaurants and discos. Along the commercial streets that divide the superblocks of Pilot Plan there are many bars. Some of the most famous ones are 'Beirute' (at '109 sul'), 'Libanus' (at '206 sul') and 'Sossega Madalena' (at '412 sul'); Shopping malls: ParkShopping, Conjunto Nacional, Brasνlia Shopping and Pαtio Brasil are the four big malls.
There are smaller ones. Other general information: Language: Brazil's official language is Portuguese, but English is widely spoken by people that have entered University. The language that is most similar to Portuguese is Spanish. It 's easy for a Brazilian to understand written Spanish, but not to understand the common quickly spoken Spanish. Religion: although Brazil is considered a catholic country, along the people that have entered University, you will find a high percentage of espiritists, protestants, agnostics and atheists; FM stations: almost 20; TV channels: 6 (plus cable TV - Net and TVA - which is already common); Major local newspapers: 2 ("Correio Braziliense" and "Jornal de Brasilia"); Soccer teams: Only one of Brasilia's teams, 'Gama', can be considered important within the Brazilian context; Carnaval: it is considered to be very dull compared to other Brazilian cities like Rio de Janeiro, Salvador or Olinda; Car speed limit: from 40 to 80 km/h depending on the street.
	Electronic speed control devices have been installed in many streets; Measure system: only the metric system is used; Car parking: free almost everywhere. However, the "guardadores" (poor, unemployed people) may ask you if they can guard you car. They would expect to receive around 25c to $ 1 no matter how much time you stay; Security: at daylight a person can walk almost anywhere in Pilot Plan with no concerns. Of course, you are not supposed to walk alone in empty areas with lot of jewelry and showing to everybody that you have an expensive camera; Public restrooms: they are very difficult to find; Subway: a subway system is in final construction and should be inaugurated in the second half of the year 2000.
It will run partly underground (including 7 km under Pilot Plan) and partly on surface (the connections to satellite cities); Public illumination: mainly mercurium (white). Various streets have sodium (yellow) illumination; Urban birds: pigeons and sparrows. By the lake there are also snowy egrets. Don't miss the main page of our site. There you will find much more information about the city of Brasilia!