The national commemorative Exhibition of the centenary of the opening of the Ports of Brazil, also known as Brazilian National Exposition of 1908 or the National Exposition of Brazil at Rio de Janeiro, marked a hundred years since the opening of the Brazilian ports acelebrated Brazil's trade and development. It opened in

Urca Urca is a traditional and wealthy residential neighborhood with nearly 7,000 inhabitants (2000 census) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Although most of the neighborhood dates from the 1920s, parts of it are much older. What is now called the Forte Sã ...

, Rio de Janeiro on 11 August, stayed open for 3 months and received over 1 million visitors.

Location

The 41 person executive committee considered several locations in Rio de Janeiro, before selecting a 182,000 m² site between Praia da Saudade and Praia Vermelha in Urca.

Opening

The fair was opened (a month later than planned) by president

Afonso Pena Afonso Augusto Moreira Pena (; 30 November 1847 – 14 June 1909) was a Brazilian politician who served as the List of presidents of Brazil, sixth president of Brazil between 1906 and 1909. Before his political career, Pena had been an attorney ...

. The main entrance was through a hundred foot high illuminated gateway designed by René Barba. On arrival, the president was escorted from the

Catete Palace The Catete Palace ( pt, Palácio do Catete, ) is an urban mansion in Rio de Janeiro's Flamengo neighborhood. The property stretches from ''Rua do Catete'' (Catete Street) to ''Praia do Flamengo'' ( Flamengo Beach). Construction began in 1858 and ...

to the opening gate by

lancer A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used for mounted warfare in Assyria as early as and subsequently by Persia, India, Egypt, China, Greece, and Rome. The weapon was widely used throughout Eurasia during the M ...

s from the 9th Cavalry Regiment, and then escorted by the exhibition's commissioners to the central palace while canons were fired and the national anthem was played.

Pavilions

There were pavilions from Brazilian states of Bahia, São Paulo, Santa Catarina, Minas Gerais, and the

Federal District of Brazil The Federal District ( pt, Distrito Federal ) is one of 27 federative units of Brazil. Located in the Center-West Region, it is the smallest Brazilian federal unit and the only one that has no municipalities, being divided into 31 administr ...

, along with a Portugal pavilion and ones for industry, Post and Telegraph, the Fire Department, a theater and a music pavilion.

Bahia state pavilion

The Bahia pavilion, which occupied 54,359 square feet, was designed by Italian architect

Rafael Rebecchi Rafael Rebecchi was an architect in Rio de Janeiro. He designed several buildings for the Brazilian National Exposition of 1908 in Rio de Janeiro. He was also involved with a rebuilding project at the Old Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro. He won a faca ...

. Its displays included artwork by

José Rodrigues Nunes José Rodrigues Nunes (11 April 1800, Salvador, Bahia - 27 November 1881, Salvador, Bahia) was a Brazilian artist who worked primarily in Salvador, Bahia. He was primarily a painter, but also worked in the fields of decoration, restoration, and ...

Bento Capinam A is the Japanese iteration of a single-portion take-out or home-packed meal, often for lunch. Outside Japan, it is common in other East and Southeast Asian culinary styles, especially within Chinese, Korean, Singaporean cuisines and more, ...

, Macario, and Victor Meirelles, and its external sculpture was made by Rodolfo Bernardelli.

Minas Gerais state pavilion

PSM V74 D122 The minas geraes building at the exposition

The Minas Gerais pavillion was also designed by Rafael Rebecchi. It had interior murals by

Crispim do Amaral Crispim do Amaral (1858 - December 17, 1911) was an actor, decorator, journalist, painter, draftsman, illustrator, and caricaturist in Brazil. He edited ''The Courier'' in 1879 in Para, Brazil and was its illustrator. He traveled to Paris in ...

including a series personifying agriculture, mineralogy, manufactures and the liberal arts. Exhibits included aspects of gold and diamond mining including a small quartz crushing machine and gold-washing machinery with washers and miners demonstrating the processes involved.

São Paulo state pavilion

The São Paulo state pavilion was designed by architect

Ramos de Azevedo Francisco de Paula Ramos de Azevedo (8 December 1851 — 13 June 1928) was a Brazilian architect, known for designing various buildings and landmarks in São Paulo, such as the Teatro Municipal, the Mercado Municipal and the Pinacoteca. He was o ...

. Its commissioners were Carlos Botelho and Antonio Barros Barreto, and it covered about twenty thousand square feet.

Portugal pavilion

The Portugal pavilion building was provided by Brazil, designed by

Francisco Isidro Monteiro Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...

, was inspired by the southern façade of the Jerónimos Monastery.

Industry pavilion

A military college on the site was converted to the industry pavilion for the expo (and afterwards was used by the 3rd Infantry Regiment).

States pavilion

This permanent building built for the exhibition, and is now the

Earth Sciences Museum The Earth Sciences Museum (''Museu de Ciências da Terra'') is a geological museum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The building was part of the National Exposition of Brazil in 1908. Its collection includes minerals, fossils, and geological exhibits. ...

Bangu textiles factory building

The Bangu textiles factory (''Fábrica de Tecidos Bangu'') displayed its own woven materials.

Music pavilion

The music pavilion was designed by

Jorge Lossio Jorge is a Spanish and Portuguese given name. It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (''Georgios'') via Latin ''Georgius''; the former is derived from (''georgos''), meaning "farmer" or "earth-worker". The Latin form ''Georgius'' ...

, decorated by Benedito Calixto and intended to have an Egyptian appearance.

Gallery

File:Exposição Nacional de 1908.jpg, Postcard showing the botanic garden in the foreground File:PSM V74 D127 Building at the exposition.png, Music pavilion File:PSM V74 D113 The bangu factory building.png, The Bangu factory building File:Exposição Nacional de 1908 - Palácio dos Estados - Revista Kosmos.jpg, The States pavilion File:Exposição Nacional de 1908 - Palácio da Indústria.jpg, Postcard showing the industry pavilion File:PSM V74 D118 The san paulo pavilion at the exhibition.png, São Paulo state pavilion File:Exposição Nacional de 1908 - Porta Monumental.jpg, alt=, Postcard showing the entrance portal

References

External links

Presentation showing the pavilions, current views of their position and their locations on a map
{{List of world's fairs in South America 1908 in Brazil 20th century in Rio de Janeiro World's fairs in Brazil 1908 establishments in Brazil 1908 disestablishments in South America Events in Rio de Janeiro (city) First Brazilian Republic