PRAÇA DA REPÚBLICA

Right in the heart of the Santo Antônio district, the Praça da República is one of the city's most beautiful squares, founded on the gardens of Count Maurice de Nassau. It is formed by three gardens featuring numerous sculptures of classical divinities. Around the fountain, lit up at night, are imperial palms and a huge old baobab tree. Surrounding the square, the Teatro Santa Isabel designed by Frenchman Louis-Léger Vautier, a high point of the city's cultural life (^19th century), the Palácio do Campo das Princesas (1841) and the Palácio da Justiça.