Transformed from palace to presidential residence in 1889 with the overthrow of the monarchy, this granite and marble building has striking floors and ceilings and houses a museum with presidential memorabilia, furniture and art.

Gregorian chants are performed on Sundays at this Benedictine complex, which was completed in 1641 and contains a spectacular church altar.

This church in the Largo de São Francisco was the site of many imperial events, including the 1822 mass dedicated to the country's conversion from colony to kingdom and the mass celebrating Brazil's adoption of its first constitution in 1831. Pope Pius X dedicated one of its chapels to the defeat of the Turks by Christian forces in the 16th century. Along with its colonial exterior and ornate interior, visitors should note sculptures done by Mestre Valentim and paintings by the slave Manoel da Cunha.