Today we set out to explore the metropolitan core of Rio De Janeiro. This was also the day that we were going to be taking public transportation for the first time on our trip. Leaving the hotel we headed west towards Parça General Osorio, the last stop on the Metro and where the start of a fast, looping bus route called the Metrô Na Superfície begins. As we headed down into the underbelly of the city we became exposed to how a large majority of Rio navigates through the urban center, by subway and the connecting bud routes. Currently Rio is in the process of expanding their Metrô lines, Line 4 in particularly. Line 4 will grow to reach out from Ipanema in the east to Barra de Tijuca in the west. This new line will commute an expected 300,000 people per day, taking almost 2,000 cars off the busy streets of Rio during rush hour. At the platform for General Osorio I saw the dead-end where this expansion would fuse the regions. Down here is where the lazy, beach going Rio that I experience on our first day gains it’s speed. We quickly caught the Linha 1 or Line 1 taking us east briefly hugging beneath Copacabana then tail whipping north under Cristo de Redentor. After passing Flamengo and Botofago we got off at the Uruguaiana station. At the surface we got to the surface where Rio transforms from the towering condos and hotels of Ipanema to the lower laying timeless architecture of the 1800s in Uruguaina.
We weaved our way through classical pediments and columns and ornate baroque detailing. Churches and stood in small squares. In midst of the labyrinth is The Royal Portuguese Reading Room.
With its gorgeous multicolored skylight and lovely balustrades, the richly decorated Neo-Manueline interior is truly a slight to behold.
The library holds the biggest and most valuable collection of Portuguese lterature outside of Portugal itself. There are over 350,000 volumes within the library, with collections of rare books that are several centuries old.
We continued through the lower part of the city making our way to the Metropolitan Cathedral. A massive concrete cone that rises out of historic Lapa.
The Metropolitan Cathedral or Catedral Metropolitana de São Sebastião lies in the former footprint of a Morro which was torn down to fill in the area of the bay that is now know as Flamengo.
The massive structure looks just that, massive. The bare concreted skeleton comes across as heavy and firm emphasing the presents of the Christian church in the city. The large conical shape has for sweeping stained glass windows that let vibrant streaks of dyed light into the interior.
At one of the entrance into the main space stands a statue of Christ. He faces inwards instead off out as if he’s looking upon the alter and congregation. This specific spot of the cathedral captivated me the most. Something about they way he looks into the space ang holds his hand as if offering it out to you.
