Another Rio

We present here an unknown Rio for those willing to forgo the myth of the city as an exclusive temple to hedonism. A Rio full of history, culture and surprises.

Marta Alvim

When the Portuguese navigators inadvertently mistook the Guanabara Bay for a river, little did they know that the future city of Rio de Janeiro would carry in its name another meaning for which it would be known internationally. Rio — the Portuguese word for river, but also the present tense of the verb rir (to laugh) - has always been associated with entertainment and fun: Samba and Carnaval, sunny beaches and beautiful women in scanty fio dental (dental floss) bikinis are the main ingredients that make the mystique surrounding the city, which also goes by the name of Cidade Maravilhosa, that is, The Wonderful City.

To think, however, that that's all Rio has to offer its residents and the hundreds of thousands of visitors it welcomes every year is a big mistake — just ask Carioca (a Rio native) tour guide Carlos Roquette. According to him there is much more to his hometown than samba and Carnaval, and definitely much more to see than the Corcovado mountain and Sugar Loaf, two of the city's major touristic attractions.

He should know! For the past 12 years the 42-year-old lawyer, museum specialist and professor of Art History and Brazilian Architecture, has developed a unique project consisting of guided tours to Rio's vast cultural patrimony. From the classical to the bizarre, Roquette's tours are the result of 30 years of lonely and persistent research on a variety of subjects, although some were created based on unusual requests from his customers.

Take, for instance, the custom-made tour requested by an American psychiatrist some time ago: Having treated a Brazilian patient in New York for many years, the psychiatrist got so intrigued and confused by his patient's nightmares that he decided to go to Rio in the hope of finding some clues that would, perhaps, enable him to solve the puzzle. Guided by Roquette, he first wanted to see the mansions in the Botafogo district. At night he asked to be taken to gay bars and night clubs. The curious thing is that he didn't want to talk to anybody and was only interested in the physical aspects of the places he visited — things like furniture and the paint on the walls. Roquette jokingly named that tour Nightmares of a Psychiatric Patient in New York, and, right then, the "Botafogo Mansions" tour was created and is now available to anyone interested.

Despite such odd requests, Professor Carlos Roquette was first recognized for his traditional tours, like "Rio Colonial," "Rio Imperial" and "Rio Belle-Époque" in which he explores not only the history, but also the rich architecture of the city. His work is recommended by several publications, among them Fodor's, Frommer's and South American Handbook. In 1992 he was awarded the Medalha Pedro Ernesto, the highest honor conferred by the city of Rio de Janeiro to its outstanding citizens.

In Roquette's estimation he has guided 12,000 tours and 600,000 people, walked approximately 32,000 miles and drove about 55,000 miles. One of his tours alone — to some of the innumerable gardens designed by internationally acclaimed landscape expert Burle Marx — lasted 29 hours. Because quite a few of Marx's most interesting works were commissioned by private parties, Roquette himself had, many times, to knock at peoples' doors and ask for permission to enter their properties. In one instance, a homeowner not only allowed the sudden intrusion, but offered his group refreshments, thus confirming Cariocas' famous hospitality.

The long list of Roquette's alternative tours also includes: "Rio Esoteric" (or any other trend), "Rio Bossa Nova" (or any other music), "Barbershops of Old Rio" (or any other service), "Rio L.S.D." (or any other group)... Incidentally, the latter was named after a custom-made tour requested by a middle-aged Englishman, recently widowed after 22 years of marriage, and very much in need of a "trip."

How can one single person be so knowledgeable about such diverse subjects ranging from Renaissance and Colonial arts to L.S.D.? According to Carlos Roquette, he started to read about Rio's cultural patrimony when he was 12. At the time, living in Copacabana and attending Colégio Militar (a school run by the military) in the Tijuca district, across town, he was forced to ride a bus through downtown Rio twice a day. He was so impressed by the old but still well preserved constructions he'd see along the way that he started to research and read about them. As literature on the subject was scarce, Roquette started to search official records as well as used bookstores, which became one of his passions and, 30 years later, the theme of one of his alternative tours — "Carioca Used Bookstores."

Here, again, he has another tale to tell: a Philadelphian lawyer (and so-called book collector) asked to be taken to some used bookstores. After five hours they were only able to go to six out of the more than 30 stores in downtown Rio, at the end of which the collector had spent $22 on six books - among them there was a first edition of an Arthur C. Clarke book from the 60's. Once the tour was over the guy confessed to Roquette that he hated to read, but he would make so much money reselling the books in the united States that his 11-day stay at a five-star hotel would be paid for.

Just the opposite from Roquette who considers his library of thousands of books his most precious possession. His search is endless, even when he is abroad, where he frequently travels as an invited speaker to international conferences and seminars. His erudition, however, is not an obstacle to the understanding of Rio's cultural patrimony by the lay person. Because he has always a joke or a tale about the places he shows, Roquette considers himself a specialist on cultural frescuras (not-so-important things) as well...

Talking of which, he explains that the "Rio L.S.D." tour requested by the widowed Englishman consisted of finding places where the recently available gentleman could meet nice, classy middle-aged women who were not prostitutes. Not only did Carlos Roquette uncover several of those places, but the Englishman had so much fun that he ended up extending his stay in Rio by several weeks — thus, "Rio L.S.D." (Lonely, Single or Divorced).

Traditional Cultural Tours (Highlights)

Church of Nossa Senhora da Candelária (name of a saint): Rio's most prestigious church, its construction started in 1775 and was concluded in 1898. Built on the site of a chapel founded in 1610 by Antônio de Palma after he had survived a shipwreck, the church's architectural beauty displays a mixture of baroque and renaissance styles. Its interior is entirely from polychromatic marble from different origins, and the paintings inside the dome — eight pictures by João Zeferino da Costa — use an incredible amount of colored marble, totaling 1,422 stones and weighing around 630 tons.

Municipal Theater: Home of Rio's opera, ballet and orchestral performances, the theater is a small replica of the Paris Opera. Built in 1905 and remodeled in 1934, its construction used highly sophisticated techniques and artistic resources, and the greatest painters and sculptors of that time contributed with their talents. The theater's adjacent restaurant, Café do Teatro, is a sumptuous room completely covered in tiles, with mosaics of Assyrian-influenced Persian themes.

Travessa do Comércio: A narrow and most charming cobblestone alleyway that runs behind Arco do Teles (an 18th-century arch built by the rich Telles family), this is one of the rare authentic colonial sites in downtown Rio.

Imperial Palace: A beautiful colonial palace originally built in 1743 to house the government headquarters, it became, in 1808, the royal family's official residence. On its steps, in 1888, Princesa Isabel abolished slavery in Brazil. The palace has been restored in recent years and is currently used for exhibitions and concerts.

Botanical Garden: Designed by order of the prince-regent Dom João, this ecological paradise displays over 8,000 different kinds of plant on 34 acres, including 268 huge royal palms that line the main promenade. Also impressive are the enormous Victoria Régis water lilies from the Amazon and the garden's beautiful 18th-century bronze fountains.

More alternative Cultural Tours

Rio in the 40s (or any other decade)

Clocks of Old Rio (or any other equipment)

Rio Gastronomy (any food)

Portinari's Rio (or any other painter related to Rio)

Antonio Virzi's Rio (or any other architect related to Rio)

Celso Antônio's Rio (or any other sculptor related to Rio)

Lima Barreto's Rio (or any other writer related to Rio)

Rio Elevator (or any other invention)

Sex and Food (or any other weird combination)

Rio Portuguese (or any other nationality)

Silk and Linen (or any other purchase)

How to Contact Professor Carlos Roquette:

Where: Projetos Roteiros Culturais

Rua Santa Clara, 110/904

Copacabana

22041-010 Rio de Janeiro - RJ - Brasil

Phones (24 hours day, 7 days week): 5521-9911-3829 or 5521-3322-4872 (also a fax).

E-mail: culturalrio@uol.com.br

Website address: www.culturalrio.com

When: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

How much: $10/hour/person (3 hours minimum). (Discounts available for groups and students)

Idioms: Portuguese, English, Spanish and French

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