Teatro Amazonas

Easily the most striking building in Manaus and one of the most important neoclassic monuments in Brazil, the Teatro Amazonas (Opera House) (Praça São Sebastião, tel. 92/3232-1768) is a reminder of the great wealth extracted here from the rubber boom of the late-19th and early-20th centuries (known in Brazil as the Rubber Cycle, or Ciclo de Burracha). Overshadowed by the great coffee boom in the southeast region, the Rubber Cycle was a relatively quiet extraction of natural latex from the serigueira tree mostly by the American companies Dunlop and Michelin. The growth that followed is well captured in the great Opera House. Almost everything used to build the great theater was imported from Europe, such as the Portuguese and Italian marble in the entry hall and stairway. In the theater area is a gold Venetian chandelier and a painted mural backdrop depicting the Meeting of the Waters. There are three levels of box seats in the theater. The floor in the noble hall is made of 12,000 interlaced wooden panels (no glue or nails used). The only thing in the Opera House not imported are the rich wooden hand runners and railings, made from local jacandara wood, which was used throughout Brazil and heavily exported to Europe. From the outside, you can’t miss the theater’s central dome, which is covered with 20,000 glazed tiles in the colors of Brazil.

You can visit the house from 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Monday–Saturday on a 20-minute guided tour or visit during one of the traditional presentations (known as Livro Vivo), which occur at 2 p.m. on Fridays and 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Saturdays. The cost is R$6. There are also performances in the evenings and a Festival of Opera during April and May, when there are numerous performances from national and international groups.