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Brasilia Travel Guide
Located at the heart of Brazil, Brasilia was created in 1956 to replace Rio de Janeiro as the country's capital. More than 50 years later, the city stands as one of the wealthiest, lively, and beautiful cities in the continent. Brazilian may claim that Rio is still the nation's heart and soul, but there's no denying that Brasilia is its modern center, close to being an urban utopia.
Everything about the city is clean and orderly. Traffic jams are a rare occurrence, the shopping and dining are superb, pollution is not much of a problem, and the nightlife is positively buzzing. It also helps that the city is located in a prime real estate: atop the Planalto Plateau and bounded by the Lake Paranoa.
Bird in Flight
What stands out about Brasilia, of course, is the fact that it is an out-and-out planned city. Under the leadership of then-Brazilian President Juscelino Kubitschek, the country employed the services of noted architect Oscar Niemeyer and urban planner Lucio Costa - and the result is a landmark achievement in town planning.
Brasilia's architectural layout is said to have been patterned to that of a bird in flight. From its administrative and residential districts to streets and bridges, every little detail was carefully planned for the perfect city life. It is home to the Monumental Axis, which is the widest road in the world.
World Heritage Site
Since its inception, Brasilia remains as the only 20th century city to ever have been designated with a UNESCO World Heritage Site status. It is even the fastest to have done so, at only 27 years. The city is an embodiment of modern architecture, and is visited by millions of tourists every year for that matter. Filled with impressive buildings and monuments, it is almost like an open-air museum.
Probably Brasilia's crowning achievement is the Cathedral of Brasilia, a masterpiece of architect Oscar Niemeyer with a unique design featuring 16 identical concrete columns. A close second is the Santuario Dom Bosco, an architectural marvel fashioned out of 7,400 pieces of Murano glass.
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