Officially created on January 10, 1907, by decree of President Afonso Pena, within the scope of the Geological and Mineralogical Service of Brazil, the Museum, which occupies an area of 6 (six) thousand m2, is the most important museum of Earth Sciences from the country.
It brings together about 7,000 specimens of Brazilian and foreign minerals, 12,000 rock samples, 60 meteorites and more than 100,000 specimens of fossils, in addition to objects, images, maps, documents and a library with more than 90,000 items.
Historical - the building 1 Side: square facing UnirioEarth Science Museum
All these items were collected, preserved and studied by several generations of professionals, providing testimonies of the history of geological research and mining carried out in Brazil since the beginning of the 20th century.
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In the garden of Praça Eusébio de Oliveira, which is to the left of the building, there is a giant rock crystal, weighing about 3 tons, which announces to visitors what they expect to see in its mineralogical exhibitions.
In addition to these scientific collections and the architectural aspects inherent to the building, which has been considered, in geological and mining circles, as the Palácio da Geologia Brasileira, the building includes some works of art of national reference.
The Building- roundabout Central balcony of the roundaboutEarth Science Museum
Three paintings by the painter Antônio Parreiras (1860-1937).
The Building- roundabout View from the left balcony of the roundaboutEarth Science Museum
The Building- roundabout Center of the MCTer's roundaboutEarth Science Museum
The Building- details Main hall ceiling in perspectiveEarth Science Museum
Ceiling paintings by Rodolfo Amoedo (1857-1941).
The Building- details Roundabout staircase handrail detailEarth Science Museum
The Building- roundabout Illuminated Statue at the base of the roundaboutEarth Science Museum
Lost wax sculptures by Mathurin Moreau (1822-1912), from the Val d'Osne foundry.
The facade of the main block is 78 meters long with a lateral advance of 44 meters. On its three floors, the facade is 25 m high, with a portico with four columns, overlooking the terrace that extends in front of it, oriented in its greatest dimension in the east-west direction.
Balcony staircase handrail detailEarth Science Museum
Access to this terrace is via two wide parabolic stairs made of carved stone, called facoidal gneiss, the same rock that forms the Urca and Sugarloaf hills.
Statues on the left side of the facadeEarth Science Museum
Each of these stairs is flanked on the first steps, which are parallel to the main facade, by two pedestals, on which the sculptures of two lions (external side) and two eagles (internal side) rest.
View of Sugarloaf Mountain from the balconyEarth Science Museum
In addition to other architectural elements, it is worth mentioning the coat of arms of the Republic, on the pediment that decorates and tops the portico, which is presumed to be the first reproduction of it in ashlar stone.
The building is the only surviving example from the 1908 exhibition, commemorating the opening of ports to friendly nations by D. João in 1808.
Historical - the building 2 Top view - historicEarth Science Museum
Historical - the building 2 Side view towards BotafogoEarth Science Museum
