Aphrodite's Fountain - detail

What a gorgeous fountain I found in the gardens of Catete Palace [link]


The Catete Palace is an urban mansion in Rio de Janeiro's Flamengo neighborhood. The property (several buildings and a large garden) stretches from Rua do Catete to Praia do Flamengo. From 1894 to 1960, it was Brazil's presidential palace and the site of Getulio Vargas' suicide. It now houses the Museu da República (Museum of the Republic) and a theatre.

The remodelling of the gardens of the palace is Paul Villon's work. In its original project, the top of the building featured eagles casted in iron. Later these ornaments were replaced with muse statues, representing summer, autumn, Justice and others.

After 1910, those statues were replaced again by eagles statues, these new ones casted in bronze. The old iron eagles were casted to create the garden benches. The building was then known as the Palaces of the Eagles, a name rarely used nowadays.

Inside the Palace there are a cafeteria, a bookstore, a cinema, the Republic Museum and the Folklore Museum.