In Rio-de-Janeiro, if you think of the Flamengo district, you immediately associate the neighborhood with its famous Flamengo-Park that could be considered as one of the historic landmarks of Brazil. The park features gardens designed by well-known Brazilian landscape designer Roberto Burle Marx..Officially named as Eduardo Gomes Park, it has 1.2 million m² of lawns, flowering shrubs and trees is one of the loveliest and most important landscape areas in the city. Its creation is credited to Lota Macedo Soares descendant from an elite family of Rio de Janeiro State.



She did not have a degree in urbanism or architecture but was a pupil of the Brazilian painter Candido Portinari and acquired by herself knowledge of architectural aesthetics and botany. To fill the area with dirt, the Santo Antonio hill, in the center of Rio, was taken down with water jets. The same machine that dredged the Panama Canal took sand from the sea to create Botafogo Beach.. Lota had the idea to illuminate the landfill at night to allow night walks throughout the park. The sports courts were also her idea. They are in use every day and night of the year; by teams of all sorts of associations.



With the support of the Rio-de-Janeiro governor Carlos Lacerda she summoned a group of distinguished friends, the landscaper Roberto Burle Marx, the botanist Luiz Emigdio de Mello Filho, and the architects Affonso Eduardo Reidy. Sérgio Bernardes and Jorge Moreira. They formed a work group under her leadership. The green carpet that covers this immense area led to many disagreements among the members of the group and also with the urban officials of the time who fought with her about the freeways crossing the park. In the end, she won the argument, as she believed 2 freeways were most suitable for the park. From the rubble came 11.600 trees of 190 species, native and exotic.




Among the 4.400 palm trees of 50 species are the rare “talipot” (Corypha umbraculifera) that flourishes only once during its lifetime and dies right after. Besides being this giant urban park, it has special characteristics, like hosting groups of plants of the same species and the use of Brazilian plants that were not usually employed in landscaping - like the “abricó-macaco” and the “pau-mulato” . The Eduardo Gomes Park has several species that are considered to be “wildlife in Rio de Janeiro and was informally inaugurated on the 12th of October of 1965, Children’s Day in Brazil.



That occasion marked the birth of one of the most popular leisure areas in the wonder city; with 4 all sports courts, soccer fields, playgrounds, an amphitheater and a skate track. There is also a restaurant and kiosks, the Marina da Glória and the Rio Museum of Modern Arts-MAM which we will describe later. The park was merged into the city landscape, and has become surely one of the most famous landmarks of Brazil, like the Sugar Loaf and the Corcovado Mountain.

Below, great shot of Leonardo Martins of World War II monument at the Flamengo_Park:



That was Lota’s dream. Running along the shoreline from the Rio´s airport Santos Dumont to Botafogo Bay, the Flameng-Park offers a wide array of attractions, including Carmen Miranda Museum, Monument to Estácio de Sá, and several other sculptures and structures all the way to the Marina. An interesting spectacle on the first Sunday of each month is the changing of the guard by all three Armed Forces, at the Monument to World War II Soldiers. On Sundays and holidays, this park is closed to traffic, offering the public numerous recreation options.

Come visit this lovely Park in Rio!