Itamaraty Palace

Itamaraty Palace (Palácio do Itamaraty) is the name of the building of the head office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brazil. The bridge, which runs over an enormous ornamental pool dotted with islands of tropical plants, leads to one of the largest public art collections in Brazil. The massive 220-square-metre main hall on the ground floor is free of columns and features a 2,3 metre-wide spiral staircase without a banister. Athos Bulcão created the embossed marble walls. Burle Marx designed the gardens, featuring plants from the Amazon region, and Bruno Giorgi (the same artist who created the Hanging Angels in the Brasilia Cathedral) carved the sculpture Meteoro from a single four-ton block of Carrara marble, which has been exposed in the water garden in front of the Palace since 1967. There are also numerous works by other great artists on display, including sculptures by Maria Martins and Victor Brecheret.