Dear Friends,
Today the Olympic Boulevard at
the port area was at last opened to the public. The two extremes of it, from
Praça XV to Museu Nacional on one side, and from Praça Mauá to the aquarium on
the other were already opened since a few weeks. The part in the middle, including the new
square in front of Candelaria Church, where the Olympic Flame will be, took a
bit longer. In the photo you can see the works in the area two weeks ago.
* * * * *
The Olympic Boulevard is one
of the most beautiful olympic legacies to Rio de Janeiro. For a very long time
cariocas have spoken about renovating the port area. The idea was to do something
similar to what Buenos Aires did two decades ago in Puerto Madero. The
difficulties were huge: there was no money, no political resolve and no
consensus about the need or opportunity of doing it. All this changed with the
Games.
* * * * *
The port area had been a
degraded, ugly and even dangerous area for decades. In the 1950s the
municipality built an elevated highway, designed to easy the traffic between the
southern and northern parts of the city. As a result, the city center was
cut-off from the seaside and many historical buildings were hidden. It was a
scar in the city center and the area around it decayed.
* * * * *
Thanks to the Olympic project
this elevated highway was removed and replaced by tunnels. A huge area in the
city center was made available for new squares and gardens. In the port the
warehouses were renovated and now will have new uses. Several historical
buildings were or are being renovated and the visitors have plenty of choice
what to visit.
* * * * *
As a side effect, many streets
around the Olympic Boulevard may also revive as a leisure area. In those there
are plenty of buildings from the XIX century that were already renovated and
now house bars, restaurants, shops or art galleries. From some it will be
possible to see the Guanabara bay. There is less noise or pollution compared to
the situation before and it became a very pleasant place to visit. The photo
beside shows some restaurants on rua do Mercado.
* * * * *
This is probably the most
important urbanistic project in the city center since the beginning of the XX
century, when Avenida Central (now Rio Branco) was opened, Castelo and Santo
Antonio hills were flatenned and a huge area from downtown to Botafogo was
claimed from the sea. If you are coming to Rio for the Games, don’t miss it,
because there are many events happening there. If you come later, also don’t
miss it. You’ll have the occasion to see Rio from a completely different and
much more beautiful perspective
* * * * *
Wish you enjoy the opening
ceremony tonight. I’ll be in Maracanã stadium and tomorrow I’ll tell you my
impressions about it.
Maurício
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