Itamaraty Palace

See also:
Brasília
Brasília Travel info

Itamaraty Palace (Palácio do Itamaraty) is the name of the building of the head office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Itamaraty is one of Niemeyer's most radiant buildings. The bridge over an enormous ornamental pool dotted with islands of tropical plants leads to one of the largest public art collections in Brazil.

The massive 220-square-meter (2,368 sq. ft.) main hall on the ground floor is free of columns and features a 2.3 meter-wide (7.5-foot) spiral staircase without a banister. Athos Bulcão created the embossed marble walls. Burle Marx designed the gardens, featuring plants from the Amazon region, and Bruno Giorgi (the same artist who created the Hanging Angels in the Brasilia Cathedral) carved the sculpture Meteoro from a single four-ton block of Carrar marble, which has been exposed in the water garden in front of the Palace since 1967.
There are also numerous works by other great artists o display, including sculptures by Maria Martins, Victor Brecheret and Alfredo Ceschiatti, and paintings by Portinari, Manabu Mabe and Alfredo Volpi. Foreign artists such as Frans Post, Rugendas and Debret also depict scenes of Brazil's past.
On the upper floor, visitors can see the desk Princess Isabel used to sign the Lei Áurea (the law which abolished slavery in Brazil) in 1888 and a triple-seat bench from Bahia with each of the places curiously baptized as fofoqueira (gossiper), conversadeira (chitchatter) and namoradeira (flirter).

The guided tour, free, lasts 40 minutes.

Address: Esplanada dos Ministérios, Bloco H
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 2pm - 4:30pm; Sat, Sun and holidays: 10am - 3:30pm.

You can take a virtual tour by accessing the page of the Itamaraty Palace.