Fundação Biblioteca Nacional — Attraction in Região Geográfica Imediata do Rio de Janeiro

The National Library is one of the jewels of the Floriano square together with the Municipal Theatre, the City Hall and other buildings, most of them erected during the Belle Époque more than a century ago. The National Library has an impressive collection of books, some 60.000 of them brought over by the royal family on their flight from Portugal to Brazil in the early 19th century. You get an impression of the marvelous architecture just walking around in the reception area. But I was a bit disappointed that the guided tour - which was otherwise good - doesn’t bring you further inside the building. Like many other public institutions in Brazil, the National Library is visibly overstaffed. On the day of my visit, literally dozens of employees stood in each other's way in the reception area, including security guards who cheered loudly while eating their lunches behind the counters and on benches set aside...

Really beautiful library although, I think the Portuguese Library is better. You can't really walk thru the halls of books here just the outside. You have to have a "legit" reason to be where the books are. You're mostly on the doorways and entrances. Probably because they archive EVERY single thing that is printed in Brazil...ever! Well, that's what the guide said. They have over 12 million items and get more everyday. Architecture is awesome and they made some really interesting design choices since the building was built during a time when electricity wasn't...

We went on a guided tour of the Nacional Library and it was amazing (besides having the best - funniest - pictures taken by the library's guide - Sorry John VI). Perfectly located on Cinelandia Square with over 9 millions items on its collection from: books, documents, magazines, newspapers, press releases, etc. It has been opened for over 200 years and it's the largest in Latin America and the 7th largest in the World. If you're in Rio, I'm a local guide here. Feel free to get in touch with me through any social...