Sambadrome Marquês de Sapucaí
Oscar Niemeyer's first major project after two decades of dictatorship exile — a parade strip that doubles as a school.
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Commissioned in 1983 by Governor Leonel Brizola to embody "socialismo moreno" (multicultural socialism), this is where samba schools compete every Carnival. Niemeyer hid 115 primary school classrooms beneath the bleachers, and the 2016 Olympics brought archery and marathon events here. Outside Carnival it runs as a general performance venue, so it earns its square footage year-round.
What to look for
- The Praça da Apoteose — Niemeyer's 90-metre trilegged arch, a symbol of the Rio Carnival.
- The bleacher bases, which conceal 115 working primary school classrooms.
- The expanded section where an old Brahma beer factory was demolished before the 2016 Olympics to add roughly 18,000 seats.
The venue hosts concerts and events outside Carnival season — check local listings, as the gates are often open without a Carnival ticket.
Sambadrome Marquês de Sapucaí is one of 29 sights worth the detour in Rio de Janeiro, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Rio de Janeiro pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Rio de Janeiro
- Christ the RedeemerArms stretched 28 metres wide at the summit of a 700-metre mountain, face turned east to meet the sunrise every morning.
- Maracanã StadiumOn 16 July 1950, 210,850 people packed this bowl to watch Uruguay beat Brazil 2–1 — the largest crowd ever recorded at a football match, and that record still stands.
- Museu NacionalOne fire in 2018 erased 200 years of collecting — 20 million objects, Brazil's oldest scientific institution, mostly gone overnight.
- Estádio Nilton Santos (Engenhão)The stadium that blew six times its construction budget and then hosted an Olympics.
- Arquivo Nacional (Brazilian National Archives)Brazil's paper memory since 1838 — founded as the Imperial Public Archives before the republic even existed.
- Rio–Niterói BridgeEight kilometres of concrete over open water, built so a bay full of ships and two city skylines could coexist.