Praça dos Três Poderes (; ''Three Powers Plaza'') is a plaza in

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

, the capital of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. The name is derived from the presence of the three governmental powers around the plaza: the Executive, represented by the Palácio do Planalto (presidential office); the

Legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

represented by the

Congresso Nacional The National Congress of Brazil ( pt, Congresso Nacional do Brasil) is the legislative body of Brazil's federal government. Unlike the state legislative assemblies and municipal chambers, the Congress is bicameral, composed of the Federal Sena ...

(National Congress); and the

Judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

, represented by the Supremo Tribunal Federal (Supreme Federal Court). The plaza was designed by

Lúcio Costa Lúcio Marçal Ferreira Ribeiro Lima Costa (27 February 1902 – 13 June 1998) was a Brazilian architect and urban planner, best known for his plan for Brasília. Career Costa was born in Toulon, France, the son of Brazilian parents. His fath ...

and

Oscar Niemeyer Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (15 December 1907 – 5 December 2012), known as Oscar Niemeyer (), was a Brazilian architect considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture. Niemeyer was ...

as a place where the three powers would meet harmoniously, it has now become a tourist attraction of Brasília. Praça dos três poderes (5944395105) (3)

The plaza is home to the largest flag in the world to be flown regularly (in this case, continuously). The Brazilian flag hoisted weighs about 600

kilogram The kilogram (also kilogramme) is the unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), having the unit symbol kg. It is a widely used measure in science, engineering and commerce worldwide, and is often simply called a kilo colloquially ...

s (1300 pounds) and has never been taken down (not counting monthly replacements) since the capital was inaugurated on 21 April 1960. The flag is changed monthly in the presence of Presidential Guard Battalion,

Independence Dragoons Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the sta ...

, other troops and sometimes the

President of Brazil The president of Brazil ( pt, Presidente do Brasil), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil ( pt, Presidente da República Federativa do Brasil) or simply the ''President of the Republic'', is the head of state and head o ...

External links

Photos 360° of Square of the Three Powers
– GUIABSB
Changing of the Flag Ceremony in Three Powers Plaza
– from

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

Buildings and structures in Brasília Squares in Brazil Tourist attractions in Brasília Oscar Niemeyer buildings Modernist architecture in Brazil {{DFBR-geo-stub

See also

External links