# Roots Earth in Rio de Janeiro: audio stories about 50 places Canonical: https://rootsearth.com/cities/rio-de-janeiro Published: 16 September 2026 Roots Earth has audio stories about 50 places in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in Latin America. The Rio de Janeiro stories are in all seven Roots Earth languages: English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian. The app needs no account: open Rio de Janeiro, pick a place on the city's map of places and play. Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection. The stories are written by local people. The 50 places are listed below in the order the app shows them, and again further down with their coordinates. The lists were taken from the Roots Earth catalogue on 15 September 2026. ## The 50 places in Rio de Janeiro with audio stories In the order the app shows them. 1. Christ the Redeemer 2. Sugarloaf Mountain 3. Copacabana 4. Ipanema 5. Maracanã Stadium 6. Escadaria Selarón 7. Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden 8. Tijuca National Park 9. Rio de Janeiro Cathedral 10. Theatro Municipal 11. Museum of Tomorrow 12. National Museum of Brazil 13. Paço Imperial 14. São Bento Monastery 15. Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading 16. Candelária Church 17. Carioca Aqueduct 18. Fort Copacabana 19. Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon 20. Pedra da Gávea 21. Niterói Contemporary Art Museum 22. National Library of Brazil 23. National Museum of Fine Arts 24. Museu de Arte do Rio 25. National Historical Museum 26. Quinta da Boa Vista 27. Sambadrome Marquês de Sapucaí 28. Parque Lage 29. Praça Quinze de Novembro 30. Cinelândia 31. Praça Mauá 32. Old Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro 33. Catete Palace 34. Ilha Fiscal 35. Santa Teresa 36. Lapa 37. Confeitaria Colombo 38. Pedra do Sal 39. São João Batista Cemetery 40. Botafogo 41. Leblon 42. Flamengo 43. Urca 44. Largo do Boticário 45. Arpoador 46. Laranjeiras 47. Rocinha 48. Vidigal 49. Glória 50. Gávea Hippodrome ## Is there an audio guide for Christ the Redeemer? Yes. Christ the Redeemer has its audio stories in the Roots Earth app: a short introduction and a deeper story, in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian. It is place 1 of the 50 Rio de Janeiro places in the app, at -22.95194, -43.21056. Every one of the other 49 places in the list above has the same two stories. Roots Earth is not a guided tour: you choose the place on the city's map of places and play its story yourself. ## How to use Roots Earth in Rio de Janeiro Open Roots Earth and choose Rio de Janeiro. The city has its own map of places with all 50 of them on it. Tap the place you are standing in front of, or any other, and play its short introduction or its deeper story. You decide what to listen to and in which order. You can listen in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian, and there is no account. Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection. --- **In full** All 50 places in Rio de Janeiro, in the app's order, with their coordinates. ## All 50 places in Rio de Janeiro, with coordinates Every place below has a short introduction and a deeper story in the Roots Earth app, in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian. The names, the coordinates (latitude, longitude) and the one line descriptions are the app's own catalogue values of 15 September 2026; a place without a line here has none that this page can print. ### 1. Christ the Redeemer - Coordinates: -22.95194, -43.21056 - In one line: Crowning the Corcovado peak above Rio de Janeiro, this 30-metre Art Deco figure of Christ spreads its arms 28 metres wide over the city. Completed in 1931, it is among the world's most recognized monuments. ### 2. Sugarloaf Mountain - Coordinates: -22.9494, -43.1567 - In one line: A 396-metre granite monolith guarding the mouth of Guanabara Bay, Sugarloaf Mountain has been reached since 1912 by Brazil's first cable car, which climbs in two stages and delivers some of Rio de Janeiro's finest panoramas. ### 3. Copacabana - Coordinates: -22.96694, -43.18056 - In one line: A 4-kilometre crescent of sand on Rio de Janeiro's Atlantic shore, Copacabana is fronted by Roberto Burle Marx's black-and-white wave-patterned promenade, redesigned in 1970. It draws sunbathers, footballers, and millions for its New Year's fireworks. ### 4. Ipanema - Coordinates: -22.98361, -43.20444 - In one line: An elegant beach district between Leblon and Arpoador, backed by the twin Dois Irmãos peaks, Ipanema gave its name to the 1962 bossa nova classic. Its sunsets, surf, and lifeguard postos draw a cosmopolitan crowd. ### 5. Maracanã Stadium - Coordinates: -22.91217, -43.23016 - In one line: Brazil's temple of football, Maracanã opened in 1950 for the World Cup and was rebuilt for 2014. It hosted both finals, the legendary Maracanazo defeat, and Pelé's 1000th goal in 1969. ### 6. Escadaria Selarón - Coordinates: -22.91432, -43.17895 - In one line: A flight of 215 steps between Lapa and Santa Teresa, tiled in red, yellow, and green by Chilean artist Jorge Selarón from 1990 until his death in 2013. Over 2,000 tiles came from more than 60 countries. ### 7. Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden - Coordinates: -22.9675, -43.22389 - In one line: Founded in 1808 by Prince Regent João VI, Rio de Janeiro's Botanical Garden holds around 6,500 plant species across 140 hectares. Its grand avenue of royal palms and giant Amazon water lilies are celebrated highlights. ### 8. Tijuca National Park - Coordinates: -22.9594, -43.2778 - In one line: Tijuca National Park is a hand-planted urban rainforest spreading across roughly 40 square kilometers of Rio de Janeiro's mountains. Reforested from the 1860s and made a national park in 1961, it shelters waterfalls, peaks, and rare wildlife above the city. ### 9. Rio de Janeiro Cathedral - Coordinates: -22.9108, -43.1807 - In one line: Rio de Janeiro Cathedral is a vast modernist cone built between 1964 and 1979 to a design by Edgar de Oliveira da Fonseca. Inspired by Mayan pyramids, it rises 75 meters and holds up to 20,000 worshippers beneath four soaring stained-glass windows. ### 10. Theatro Municipal - Coordinates: -22.90922, -43.17649 - In one line: The Theatro Municipal is Rio de Janeiro's grand opera house, built between 1905 and 1909 in an eclectic style modeled on the Paris Opera. Inaugurated in 1909, its gilded interior, marble staircase, and painted ceilings host opera, ballet, and orchestral seasons. ### 11. Museum of Tomorrow - Coordinates: -22.89413, -43.1794 - In one line: The Museum of Tomorrow is a futuristic science museum opened in 2015 on Rio's revived waterfront. Designed by Santiago Calatrava with a cantilevered spine roof above reflecting pools, it explores cosmos, earth, and sustainable futures through five immersive sections. ### 12. National Museum of Brazil - Coordinates: -22.90583, -43.22611 - In one line: The National Museum of Brazil, founded in 1818 at Campo de Santana and moved to a former imperial palace in 1892, is the country's oldest scientific institution. A devastating 2018 fire destroyed most of its vast collection, though the Bendegó meteorite survived and reconstruction continues at Quinta da Boa Vista. ### 13. Paço Imperial - Coordinates: -22.90351, -43.17423 - In one line: The Paço Imperial, built between 1738 and 1743 on Praça XV, served as Brazil's colonial, royal, and imperial seat of power. Here Princess Isabel signed the 1888 abolition of slavery. Today the austere colonial palace houses a cultural center. ### 14. São Bento Monastery - Coordinates: -22.89667, -43.17778 - In one line: São Bento Monastery, founded in 1590 with its church built from 1633, is a Benedictine abbey crowning a downtown hill. Behind a plain mannerist facade lies one of Brazil's finest gilded Baroque interiors, still alive with Sunday Gregorian chant. ### 15. Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading - Coordinates: -22.9053, -43.1822 - In one line: A Neo-Manueline library raised between 1880 and 1887, the Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading holds the largest collection of Portuguese literature outside Portugal, its towering carved-wood shelves crowned by an iron-and-glass skylight in central Rio. ### 16. Candelária Church - Coordinates: -22.90081, -43.17789 - In one line: Rebuilt from 1775 and crowned by a Lisbon-stone dome finished in 1877, Candelária Church blends Baroque and Neoclassical design. Once Rio's tallest structure, it stands today as both a grand sanctuary and a memorial to the 1993 massacre at its steps. ### 17. Carioca Aqueduct - Coordinates: -22.91259, -43.17985 - In one line: Completed in 1750 to carry fresh water into colonial Rio, the Carioca Aqueduct spans the Lapa district with 42 double-tiered white arches. Since 1896 it has carried the city's last surviving tram, the yellow Santa Teresa streetcar, high above the streets. ### 18. Fort Copacabana - Coordinates: -22.9858, -43.1853 - In one line: Built between 1908 and 1914 at the southern tip of Copacabana beach, this coastal fortress once guarded Rio's harbor with massive Krupp cannons. ### 19. Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon - Coordinates: -22.97112, -43.21172 - In one line: A saltwater lagoon of about 2. 4 million square meters in Rio's South Zone, Rodrigo de Freitas is ringed by Ipanema, Leblon and Gávea. Once colonial sugar land, it hosted the rowing and canoe events of the 2016 Olympic Games. ### 20. Pedra da Gávea - Coordinates: -22.99652, -43.28193 - In one line: Rising 844 meters above the Tijuca Forest, Pedra da Gávea is among the world's largest coastal monoliths. Weathering has carved a face-like profile into its rock, fueling debates over a supposed ancient inscription that scientists attribute to natural erosion. ### 21. Niterói Contemporary Art Museum - Coordinates: -22.9075, -43.1264 - In one line: Opened in 1996 and designed by Oscar Niemeyer, this saucer-shaped museum perches on a Niterói cliff above Guanabara Bay. Its 50-meter cupola, sweeping ramp and reflecting pool frame one of Brazil's largest contemporary art collections and panoramic views toward Rio. ### 22. National Library of Brazil - Coordinates: -22.90972, -43.1755 - In one line: The largest library in Latin America, founded in 1810 from books the Portuguese court carried to Rio. Its eclectic 1910 building on Cinelândia square holds roughly 9 million items, from rare manuscripts to royal photographs. ### 23. National Museum of Fine Arts - Coordinates: -22.9088, -43.17573 - In one line: Brazil's premier art museum, housed in an eclectic 1908 palace on Rio Branco Avenue. Founded in 1937, it holds around 20,000 works tracing back to the royal collection brought by the Portuguese court in 1808. ### 24. Museu de Arte do Rio - Coordinates: -22.89667, -43.18194 - In one line: A contemporary art museum opened in 2013 at Praça Mauá, joining an eclectic old palace to a former bus station beneath a wave-like floating roof. Its galleries explore the art and life of Rio de Janeiro. ### 25. National Historical Museum - Coordinates: -22.90591, -43.16952 - In one line: Founded in 1922 within a colonial fort and arsenal whose oldest parts date to 1603, this museum holds over 287,000 items, including Latin America's largest coin collection and the imperial thrones of Brazil's monarchs. ### 26. Quinta da Boa Vista - Coordinates: -22.90583, -43.22444 - In one line: A vast 19th-century imperial park where Brazil's emperors lived in the São Cristóvão Palace. Its 500,000 square meters hold lakes, temples, the fire-scarred National Museum, and Brazil's oldest zoo. ### 27. Sambadrome Marquês de Sapucaí - Coordinates: -22.91122, -43.19775 - In one line: A purpose-built parade ground designed by Oscar Niemeyer and opened in 1984, where Rio's samba schools compete each Carnival. Its 700-meter avenue seats around 90,000 spectators between concrete grandstands. ### 28. Parque Lage - Coordinates: -22.9606, -43.212 - In one line: A lush park at the foot of Corcovado, set around an Italianate 1920s mansion with a courtyard pool framing the Christ statue. Once an industrialist's estate, it now houses a respected visual arts school. ### 29. Praça Quinze de Novembro - Coordinates: -22.9028, -43.1729 - In one line: Rio's oldest public square opens onto Guanabara Bay beside the old imperial palace. Named for the 1889 proclamation of the republic, it witnessed coronations, the abolition of slavery, and centuries of waterfront life. ### 30. Cinelândia - Coordinates: -22.91101, -43.17573 - In one line: A grand civic square ringed by the opera house, national library, and fine arts museum. Nicknamed in the 1920s, when Francisco Serrador transformed Praça Floriano into a cinema-centered cultural district, Cinelândia remains the ceremonial heart of central Rio. ### 31. Praça Mauá - Coordinates: -22.89611, -43.18056 - In one line: A reborn waterfront plaza in Rio's old port district. Once a rough dockside quarter, it now anchors the Porto Maravilha renewal, framed by the soaring Museum of Tomorrow and the Museum of Art of Rio. ### 32. Old Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro - Coordinates: -22.90333, -43.17556 - In one line: An 18th-century Carmelite church that served as Rio's cathedral for nearly 170 years. Inside its gilded Rococo nave, two emperors were crowned, the only Christian coronations ever held in South America. ### 33. Catete Palace - Coordinates: -22.9258, -43.1761 - In one line: A grand 19th-century neoclassical palace built for a coffee baron, later Brazil's seat of government from 1897 to 1960. Here President Getúlio Vargas took his own life in 1954. Today it houses the Museum of the Republic. ### 34. Ilha Fiscal - Coordinates: -22.9, -43.16667 - In one line: A green neo-Gothic castle on a tiny island in Guanabara Bay, built as a customs house under Emperor Pedro II. It hosted the last ball of the Brazilian Empire in November 1889, days before the monarchy fell. ### 35. Santa Teresa - Coordinates: -22.9175, -43.18806 - In one line: A bohemian hilltop neighborhood of winding cobbled streets, old mansions, and artists' studios. Its bright yellow tram still rattles across the Carioca Aqueduct, carrying riders up to sweeping views over Rio. ### 36. Lapa - Coordinates: -22.91361, -43.18167 - In one line: Lapa is the bohemian heart of central Rio, famous for its samba clubs, street parties, and the white arches of the old Carioca Aqueduct. By night the neighborhood fills with music, dancing, and crowds spilling across its squares. ### 37. Confeitaria Colombo - Coordinates: -22.905, -43.17889 - In one line: Confeitaria Colombo is a grand Belle Époque coffeehouse in central Rio, open since 1894. Towering Belgian mirrors, rosewood frames, and a stained-glass skylight surround marble tables where writers, presidents, and royalty have lingered over coffee and pastry. ### 38. Pedra do Sal - Coordinates: -22.89801, -43.18527 - In one line: Pedra do Sal is a steep stone slope in Rio's old port district, the historic heart of Little Africa and a birthplace of samba. Recognized as heritage in 1984, it still hosts open-air samba gatherings on its worn steps. ### 39. São João Batista Cemetery - Coordinates: -22.959, -43.188 - In one line: São João Batista Cemetery, opened in 1852 in Botafogo, is Rio's most famous resting place. Among its ornate mausoleums lie Tom Jobim, Carmen Miranda, Villa-Lobos, Santos-Dumont, and many of the nation's presidents, artists, and heroes. ### 40. Botafogo - Coordinates: -22.95, -43.18417 - In one line: Botafogo is a lively South Zone neighborhood wrapped around a curving bay, with one of Rio's most iconic views of Sugarloaf Mountain. Once an elite enclave, it is now a busy mix of homes, museums, bars, and the famous football club. ### 41. Leblon - Coordinates: -22.98333, -43.22583 - In one line: Leblon is Rio's most affluent beach neighborhood, sitting beside Ipanema beneath the Two Brothers hills. Known for upscale dining, a relaxed seafront, and the city's priciest real estate, it blends easy beach living with quiet sophistication. ### 42. Flamengo - Coordinates: -22.93361, -43.17444 - In one line: Flamengo is a residential South Zone neighborhood along Guanabara Bay, home to the vast Aterro do Flamengo park built on reclaimed land and landscaped by Roberto Burle Marx. ### 43. Urca - Coordinates: -22.94889, -43.16556 - In one line: Urca is a quiet seaside neighborhood at the foot of Sugarloaf Mountain, largely built on reclaimed land from 1922. Its Art Deco villas, the little Praia Vermelha, and the sea wall make it one of Rio's most tranquil corners. ### 44. Largo do Boticário - Coordinates: -22.9395, -43.2013 - In one line: Largo do Boticário is a small colonial-style square in Cosme Velho, framed by pastel neocolonial houses and Atlantic Forest greenery. Named for an apothecary who settled here around 1831, it was largely created in the 1920s as a romantic vision of old Rio. ### 45. Arpoador - Coordinates: -22.99056, -43.19167 - In one line: Arpoador is a rocky point and beach between Ipanema and Copacabana, named for the harpooners who once hunted whales here. Famed for its sunsets, applauded nightly by the crowd, and its left-breaking surf, it remains one of Rio's most beloved gathering spots. ### 46. Laranjeiras - Coordinates: -22.93583, -43.18889 - In one line: Laranjeiras is a leafy, upper-middle-class neighborhood in Rio's South Zone, named for the orange groves that once filled this valley by the Carioca River. It holds the Palácio Guanabara, the state government seat, and the historic home of Fluminense Football Club. ### 47. Rocinha - Coordinates: -22.98861, -43.24833 - In one line: Rocinha is Brazil's largest favela, a dense hillside community of roughly 72,000 people between São Conrado and Gávea. Built by its own residents from the mid-20th century, it has grown into a self-made city of concrete homes, busy shops, and vibrant street culture. ### 48. Vidigal - Coordinates: -22.99472, -43.23861 - In one line: Vidigal is a hillside community on Morro Dois Irmãos, between Leblon and São Conrado, overlooking Ipanema Beach. Famed for its sweeping views and the Two Brothers trail, it has become one of Rio's most visited favelas, a lively hub of sport, culture, and family life. ### 49. Glória - Coordinates: -22.92083, -43.17361 - In one line: Glória is a hillside district between downtown Rio and Flamengo, named for the 17th-century church crowning its hill. Below lies the Marina da Glória, opened in 1979, while the hilltop holds layers of history reaching back to the indigenous village that gave cariocas their name. ### 50. Gávea Hippodrome - Coordinates: -22.97323, -43.22192 - In one line: Rio's grand racecourse, opened in 1926 and modeled on Paris's Longchamp, spreads across five neighborhoods beside the Lagoa lagoon. Home of the Jockey Club Brasileiro and the Grande Prêmio Brasil, it frames thoroughbreds against mountains and city. ## Roots Earth in short Roots Earth has audio stories about 5,665 places in 130 cities, 25 countries and 6 regions, written by local people. - No account - Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection - Audio stories in English and German in every city, and in Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian in 126 of the 130 cities Roots Earth for Android is available on Google Play: [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rootsearth.app](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rootsearth.app). ## More from Roots Earth - [Latin America in the Roots Earth catalogue](https://rootsearth.com/cities#latin-america): every city in Latin America with its number of places and its languages. - [What Roots Earth is](https://rootsearth.com/app): the app in one page, how it works and what is in it. - [Questions travellers ask](https://rootsearth.com/faq): the cities, the languages, the account, listening without a connection. - [The 7 languages](https://rootsearth.com/languages): the seven languages with their codes and how many cities each one covers. - [Florianopolis](https://rootsearth.com/cities/florianopolis): 40 places in Brazil with audio stories. - [Ouro Preto](https://rootsearth.com/cities/ouro-preto): 40 places in Brazil with audio stories. - [Salvador](https://rootsearth.com/cities/salvador): 45 places in Brazil with audio stories. - [Sao Paulo](https://rootsearth.com/cities/sao-paulo): 50 places in Brazil with audio stories. 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