City CouncilGeneral Archive of Rio de Janeiro City
City Council and Cinelândia, undated
In this slide, we can see the facade of the Pedro Ernesto Palace and the Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Building commonly called Amarelinho. See also the traffic control post, possibly between Treze de Maio and Evaristo de Veiga streets.
City Council
Frontal and side facade view of the Pedro Ernesto Palace, where the City Council was established on June 21, 1923. On the right, we see Evaristo da Veiga Street and the intersection with Treze de Maio Street.
São José School, n.d.
Since 1897, the Intendency Council has occupied the São José School building, in the same place where the Pedro Ernesto Palace stands today. In 1911, the Council launched a competition to choose a design for its new headquarters. The winner was architect Heitor de Melo.
Mãe do Bispo Square, n.d.
Previously known as the Ajuda neighborhood, the Cinelândia area underwent major transformation: its houses were knocked down and the fountain transferred to the Botafogo Beach in 1903. In the center and in the background, we see the current Treze de Maio Street, formerly the Guarda Velha Street.
Mapara para obras da região da Cinelândia.General Archive of Rio de Janeiro City
Land Occupation Project
Demarcation of land in 1904: the area where the Municipal Theatre would be located and those already occupied by the Municipal Council (demolished in 1922) and the Ajuda Convent (demolished in 1920). Highlights are the outline of Central Avenue, with work already underway, and the area chosen for the Monroe Palace.
Obras de construção da Praça Floriano. Em primeiro plano, detritos do desmonte lateral do Morro do Castelo. Ao fundo, à esquerda, o Convento da Ajuda e, ao centro, o Conselho Municipal.General Archive of Rio de Janeiro City
Projects by Pereira Passos and the Republican Government
On the left is the Ajuda Convent; in the center is the building occupied by the Municipal Intendency; and on the right is the commencement of works for the Municipal Theater. In the foreground, we see the construction of Central Avenue, currently Rio Branco Avenue, on the area where Morro do Castelo was already demolished.
Municipal Theater, Rio Branco Avenue and Floriano Square
With the appearance of Central Avenue in 1904, a new public space also emerged, namely Floriano Square. Today, it is popularly known as Cinelândia. Also on the left is the São José School, in the area where the Pedro Ernesto Palacio would be built.
Demolished in 1920, all the Ajuda Convent land was occupied by the cinemas that made Floriano Square famous as Cinelândia: Odeon Cinema (1926), Parisiense Cinema, and the Pathé Cinema (both in 1907). In both photographs, we see Monroe Palace.
Planta do projeto interno do Cine CapitólioGeneral Archive of Rio de Janeiro City
Internal Project in the Capitólio Cinema
The Capitólio Cinema was another entity that occupied the land of the old Ajuda Convent, and was situated beside the Pathé Palace.
On the left, the drawing of the Capitólio Cinema facade. On the right, the cinema, already functional.
Today and yesterday: National Library (Biblioteca Nacional), built on Central Avenue in 1910.
From the perspective of the splendid Central Avenue: on the left is the National Fine Arts School (Escola Nacional de Belas Artes), inaugurated in 1908. It is now the Fine Arts Museum. On the right, the foundations of the same school, a panoramic view of the destruction of Morro do Castelo in progress.
Vista aérea da Avenida Rio Branco e Cinelândia. (12.02.1961) by 12.02.1961General Archive of Rio de Janeiro City
Cinelândia and Rio Branco, 1961
On the right are the domes of the National Fine Arts Museum and National Library. In the lower right-hand corner is the dome of the Municipal Theater. On the right, we see glimpses of the facades of the Pedro Ernesto and Monroe palaces. In the background, we see land filling works and the Sugarloaf Mountain.
Mayor of Rio de Janeiro
Eduardo Paes
Secretary of State
Eduardo Cavaliere
General Archive of the City of Rio de Janeiro
Rosa Maria Araujo
Documentation Center
Maria Thereza Kahl Fonseca
Curatorship and historical research
Conrado Werneck Pimentel and Miguel Mattos Silva
Editing
Conrado Werneck Pimentel
Text revision
Pedro Paulo Malta
Interns
Luísa da Costa de Oliveira and Marcelle Araujo Lins
Film digitization
LUPA/UFF - University Laboratory for Audiovisual Preservation
ReferencesCidade de São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro: terras e fatos.
Aureliano Restier Gonçalves
Sistema Histórico de Reconhecimento de Logradouros - ruas.rio
