Frédéric M

Canada - 03-Aug-24 -

On March 21, 2024, while visiting Rio de Janeiro, I received an e-mail from the Canadian Abroad Warning System. It warned me that a major storm would hit Rio the next day, that it was best to stay indoors, and that I should follow the advice of the local authorities. However, it didn't teach me anything, since the Cariocas were on the alert and I had already been warned of the impending arrival of this depression. I had even listened to the news with my host, which was broadcasting hurricane-like images and announcing power outages, flooded villages and missing persons in the southern sectors already hit.

When I woke up the next morning, neither the rain nor the strong winds had begun. So I decided to start my day with two indoor activities: the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation museums and the AquaRio. The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation is a medical and public health research institution founded in 1900 with the initial aim of producing serums and vaccines to treat the bubonic plague that had just arrived in Brazil. It later became a complex of medical research and treatment centers, active mainly in the treatment of tropical diseases in rural Brazil (yellow fever, smallpox and bubonic plague). It had a considerable impact on the treatment of diseases in Brazil, and Oswaldo Cruz introduced numerous public health measures (even sparking popular revolts). To get there, it's advisable to take an Uber, as the institute is surrounded not only by underprivileged favelas, but also by centers treating drug addicts, who congregate in the surrounding streets and present a certain danger, according to my host. Once you've passed the entrance gate, you have to register at the security office, then you can move freely within the foundation's grounds.

I began my visit at the most impressive building, the Moorish Castle. This houses the complex's main museums. Its neo-mouresque façade with its many details is a real eye-catcher. The security guard then informed me that it was not possible to visit the foundation buildings today. In fact, the foundation had decided to close its doors due to the major storm on its way to Rio. So my inside visit quickly became an outside one. I was still able to peek into the pavilion's richly decorated hall, before visiting (from the outside) the surrounding buildings. These include the Pavilhão do Relógio (where the plague was studied), the Pavilhão Figueiredo de Vasconcellos (where treatments for malaria were developed) and the Cavalariça (the stables). These buildings are all identified as heritage sites on the map of the complex and are accompanied by interpretation panels (in Portuguese only). The other four heritage buildings on the map are the Pombal (enclosed and under restoration at the time of my visit), the Pavilhão Gaspar Vianna (the historic center for the treatment and study of tropical diseases), the Pavilhão Arthur Neiva and the Pavilhão Carlos Augusto da Silva (I didn't visit the last two). The complex also boasts an attractive museum featuring, among other things, open-air anatomical installations for children (the Parque da Ciência). The guards let me have a look around this museum even though it was closed.

Although the museums were closed and the on-site interpretation was unintelligible to me, I enjoyed my visit to this complex. The architecture is pretty and, more importantly, the history of the place is interesting and fills a gap in the World Heritage list. I left the foundation by Uber as a light rain began to fall. In the end, the storm never arrived in Rio, while a light rain was all that fell on our heads in the afternoon and evening.