Brasília travel guide

Brazil · Top sights · trending spots

Brasília was built on empty savannah in forty-one months and inaugurated in April 1960, on Lúcio Costa's plan of two crossed axes usually described as an aeroplane.

Oscar Niemeyer designed the public buildings — the cathedral's sixteen concrete ribs, the twin towers and bowls of congress, the palace on the lake. It became World Heritage in 1987, the youngest city ever listed.

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Top 10 sights in Brasília

Ranked by Wikipedia language editions — proven fame.

© Michel Temer · CC BY 2.0
Palácio do Planalto
The president's official workplace, designed by Oscar Niemeyer and opened in 1960, whose curved columns touch the ground at a point so that the whole slab appears to float. The ramp rather than steps to the entrance was deliberate: a president should be seen walking up.
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© Mariordo (Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cathedral of Brasília
A cathedral of 1970 by Oscar Niemeyer, sixteen concrete ribs rising to a crown with stained glass between them, entered by a dark ramp so the light hits all at once. Three aluminium angels hang inside; the nave floor is below ground level.
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© Arne Müseler · CC BY-SA 3.0 de
Palácio da Alvorada
The president's residence, finished in 1958 before the city itself, and Niemeyer's first building in Brasília — a glass box under a flat slab held by narrow tapered supports. Le Corbusier is said to have remarked that the columns alone justified the new capital.
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© Senado Federal · CC BY 2.0
Praça dos Três Poderes
The plaza where the executive, legislative and judicial branches face each other across open ground, laid out by Lúcio Costa with buildings by Niemeyer. Bruno Giorgi's bronze of the two candangos — the workers who built the city — stands in the middle.
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© Antônio Cruz/ABr · CC BY 3.0 br
Brasília National Park
A national park of 423 square kilometres northwest of the Federal District, created in 1961 and known locally as Água Mineral for its spring-fed pools. It protects cerrado savanna and supplies part of the capital's water; maned wolves and giant anteaters live in it.
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Brasilia TV Tower
A television tower of 1967 on the Monumental Axis, designed by Lúcio Costa, now 224 metres high with a free observation platform at seventy-five. A crafts fair fills the Burle Marx gardens at its foot at weekends and it draws over ten thousand visitors a week.
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© Matheusgf78 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Brasilia Digital TV Tower
A digital broadcast tower opened on 21 April 2012, designed by Oscar Niemeyer at the age of 104 and nicknamed the Flower of the Cerrado. Two glazed pods hang from its 182-metre shaft as viewing galleries.
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© Gustavo · CC BY-SA 2.0
Tancredo Neves Pantheon of Fatherland and Freedom
A cenotaph of 1986 by Niemeyer on the Three Powers Plaza, honouring national heroes, conceived after Tancredo Neves — the first civilian elected president after twenty years of military rule — died before taking office. It contains no graves, only names in a book of steel.
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© Michel Temer · CC BY 2.0
Palácio do Jaburu
The vice-president's official residence, designed with Niemeyer's involvement and opened in 1977, near the Alvorada Palace on the shore of Lake Paranoá. It is closed to the public.
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© Peruwikila · CC BY-SA 4.0
Memorial JK
A memorial and mausoleum by Niemeyer to Juscelino Kubitschek, the president who built Brasília in under four years, opened in 1981 and holding his tomb. A statue of him stands in a curved concrete sickle above the entrance, which drew comment at the time.
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Popular tickets & tours in Brasília

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Trending now

Based on 2025 Wikipedia pageviews — popular places beyond the top 10.

Cultural Complex of the Republic
A cultural complex on the Monumental Axis of two Niemeyer buildings opened in 2006 — the National Library and the white dome of the National Museum of the Republic, which has no permanent collection and shows only temporary exhibitions.
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© Moacir Ximenes · CC BY 3.0 br
Catedral Militar Rainha da Paz
Oscar Niemeyer's church for the armed forces on the Monumental Axis, a white concrete triangle meant to recall a field tent. John Paul II laid the foundation stone in 1991, and it was inaugurated on 12 September 1994.
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Top 10 sights in Brasília

Ranked by Wikipedia language editions — proven fame.

Palácio do Planalto

The president's official workplace, designed by Oscar Niemeyer and opened in 1960, whose curved columns touch the ground at a point so that the whole slab appears to float. The ramp rather than steps to the entrance was deliberate: a president should be seen walking up.

Tiqets

Klook

Cathedral of Brasília

A cathedral of 1970 by Oscar Niemeyer, sixteen concrete ribs rising to a crown with stained glass between them, entered by a dark ramp so the light hits all at once. Three aluminium angels hang inside; the nave floor is below ground level.

Tiqets

Klook

Palácio da Alvorada

The president's residence, finished in 1958 before the city itself, and Niemeyer's first building in Brasília — a glass box under a flat slab held by narrow tapered supports. Le Corbusier is said to have remarked that the columns alone justified the new capital.

Tiqets

Klook

Praça dos Três Poderes

The plaza where the executive, legislative and judicial branches face each other across open ground, laid out by Lúcio Costa with buildings by Niemeyer. Bruno Giorgi's bronze of the two candangos — the workers who built the city — stands in the middle.

Tiqets

Klook

Brasília National Park

A national park of 423 square kilometres northwest of the Federal District, created in 1961 and known locally as Água Mineral for its spring-fed pools. It protects cerrado savanna and supplies part of the capital's water; maned wolves and giant anteaters live in it.

Tiqets

Klook

Brasilia TV Tower

A television tower of 1967 on the Monumental Axis, designed by Lúcio Costa, now 224 metres high with a free observation platform at seventy-five. A crafts fair fills the Burle Marx gardens at its foot at weekends and it draws over ten thousand visitors a week.

Tiqets

Klook

Brasilia Digital TV Tower

A digital broadcast tower opened on 21 April 2012, designed by Oscar Niemeyer at the age of 104 and nicknamed the Flower of the Cerrado. Two glazed pods hang from its 182-metre shaft as viewing galleries.

Tiqets

Klook

Tancredo Neves Pantheon of Fatherland and Freedom

A cenotaph of 1986 by Niemeyer on the Three Powers Plaza, honouring national heroes, conceived after Tancredo Neves — the first civilian elected president after twenty years of military rule — died before taking office. It contains no graves, only names in a book of steel.

Tiqets

Klook

Palácio do Jaburu

The vice-president's official residence, designed with Niemeyer's involvement and opened in 1977, near the Alvorada Palace on the shore of Lake Paranoá. It is closed to the public.

Tiqets

Klook

Memorial JK

A memorial and mausoleum by Niemeyer to Juscelino Kubitschek, the president who built Brasília in under four years, opened in 1981 and holding his tomb. A statue of him stands in a curved concrete sickle above the entrance, which drew comment at the time.

Tiqets

Klook

Trending now

Based on 2025 Wikipedia pageviews — popular places beyond the top 10.

Cultural Complex of the Republic

A cultural complex on the Monumental Axis of two Niemeyer buildings opened in 2006 — the National Library and the white dome of the National Museum of the Republic, which has no permanent collection and shows only temporary exhibitions.

Tiqets

Klook

Catedral Militar Rainha da Paz

Oscar Niemeyer's church for the armed forces on the Monumental Axis, a white concrete triangle meant to recall a field tent. John Paul II laid the foundation stone in 1991, and it was inaugurated on 12 September 1994.

Tiqets

Klook