Real Gabinete Português de Leitura

What makes it special

The reading room is one tall hall, about 30 metres from floor to ceiling. Its walls are lined with bookcases holding about 200,000 volumes. The library is the only legal depository for Portuguese books outside Portugal, so new titles still arrive on those shelves.

Overhead, a coloured skylight in a metal frame forms an octagonal rose. Below it hangs an iron and bronze chandelier with 48 small lamps and a large central globe. Above the second-floor arches, 40 medallions carry the names of Portuguese writers.

The columns and balconies are decorative ironwork, and this was the first building in Rio with a metal structure. Outside, the façade copies the neo-Manueline style of the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon, in lioz limestone brought from Portugal. Its statues portray Cabral, Camões, Prince Henry the Navigator and Vasco da Gama.

The detail easy to walk past is the carved wooden showcase in the hall, which displays the Livro de Ouro, a commemorative album whose name means Golden Book. Look also for the medallion of Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom.

Visiting

One room is the whole visit, and the rest of the building stays closed to visitors. At the entrance you pass the visitor desk, then cross the atrium, where the tiled floor is laid like a carpet around a central medallion.

Inside the hall, keep your voice down and take no phone calls. Do not touch the books, eat or drink, or set a bag on the reading tables. Photographs are fine with the flash off and no tripod.

Walk the floor slowly, starting at the atrium and ending at the Livro de Ouro showcase. When others are photographing the shelves, expect a short wait for a clear view.

Tips

In holiday periods the room is much busier, so arrive soon after the doors open, while the reading tables are still quiet. Bring a lens wide enough for the full height of the hall, from the reading tables up past the iron balconies to the skylight.