The Real Gabinete Português de Leitura stands out for its three-story wall of dark, intricately carved bookshelves topped by a massive stained-glass skylight. Built in eighteen eighty-seven by a group of Portuguese immigrants, the library…
Centro Bookstores and Cafes
This walk takes you through the narrow pedestrian lanes of historic downtown Rio to experience legendary coffee houses, majestic libraries, and beloved independent bookstores. You will trace the rich literary and intellectual heritage of the old capital where poets and politicians used to gather.
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1. Real Gabinete Português de Leitura
2. Casa Cavé
A tall, narrow building featuring a distinctive light blue facade and golden lettering on Rua Sete de Setembro marks the site of Casa Cavé. Founded by Italian immigrant Feliciano Cavé in eighteen sixty, it served as a primary destination…
3. Confeitaria Colombo
Confeitaria Colombo features soaring Belgian mirrors and carved jacaranda wood imported by ship in nineteen twelve. Joaquim Borges de Meirelles and Manuel José Lebrão founded the shop in eighteen ninety-four to serve the Portuguese elite…
4. Bookstore Leonardo da Vinci
The Bookstore Leonardo da Vinci occupies a narrow, wood-paneled space on the second floor of a building tucked away from the main street bustle. It began in nineteen fifty-two, founded by Alice Raillard and Emmanuel Raffin. They arrived…
5. Livraria da Travessa
The storefront on Rua Sete de Setembro features a massive, floor-to-ceiling glass window that reveals stacks of books arranged like wooden towers inside a converted bank building. Before it became a bookstore, this space held the…
6. Bookstore and Publishing Folha Seca
Folha Seca displays a wall of shelves packed tight with records, sheet music, and books dedicated almost entirely to the history of Brazilian popular music. The shop opened in nineteen ninety-nine, founded by Steve Soares, a former banker…
7. Bistrô do Paço
The Bistrô do Paço sits tucked inside the stone courtyard of the Paço Imperial, the former residence of the Portuguese governors and the Brazilian royal family. Its defining feature is the contrast between the rough, eighteenth-century…