Streets and Parks.—Some of the most modern streets have been laid out with Spanish-American regularity, but much the greater part seems to have sprung into existence without any plan. Most of the streets of the old city are parallel and cross at right angles, but they are narrow and enclose blocks of unequal size. Each suburb is laid out independently, with straight streets where the ground permits, and crooked ones where the shore-line or mountain contour compels. Since the beginning of the 20th cen tury large sums have been borrowed and expended on new avenues, the widening and straightening of old streets, and the improvement of the water front between the Passeio Publico and the southern extremity of the Praia de Botafogo by the construction of a grand boulevard, partly on reclaimed land. One of these improvements consists of a central avenue (Avenida Rio Branco) cut across the old city from a point on the water front near the Passeio Publico northward to the Saude water front. This is one of the hand somest thoroughfares in the Western Hemisphere. Over a mile long from north to south, it is lined with fine private and public buildings. The military, naval and jockey clubs are situated there, and also the offices of some of the principal newspapers, such as the Jornal do Commercio and 0 Paiz, besides fashionable shops, cafes and business places. The shore-line boulevard, called the Avenida Beira-Mar, is about 41 m. long, the wider parts being filled in with gardens.
Another improvement was the completion and embellishment of the Mangue canal, originally designed as an entrance to a central market for the boats plying on the bay, but now destined for drain age purposes and as a public pleasure ground. This canal, as com pleted, is nearly 2 m. long, enclosed with stone walls, crossed by a number of iron bridges and bordered by lines of royal palms. The most famous street of the old city is the Rua do Ouvidor, running westward from the market-place to the Largo de Sao Francisco de Paula, and lined with retail shops, cafés and news paper offices. It has long been a favourite promenade, and fills an
important part in the social and political life of the city. The principal business street is the Rua Primeiro de Marco, formerly called Rua Direita, which extends from the Praca 15 de Novembro northward to S5.o Bento Hill. The streets and suburbs are served by tramway lines using electric traction. The streets are lighted with electricity and gas.
The public parks and gardens are numerous and include the botanical garden with its famous avenue of royal palms (Oreodoxa regia) ; the Passeio Publico (dating from i783), a small garden on the water front facing the harbour entrance ; the Jardim d'Ac clamacao, forming part of the Praca da Republica with its artistic walks and masses of shrubbery; the Praca Tiradentes with its magnificent equestrian statue of Dom Pedro I., executed by the French sculptor, Luiz Rochet ; the Praca 15 de Novembro on the water front, facing the old city palace; and smaller squares. Water Supply and Sewerage Drainage.—The water sup ply is derived from three sources : the small streams flowing down the mountain sides which serve small localities ; the old Carioca aqueduct, dating from colonial times, which collects a considerable supply from the small streams of the Serra da Carioca and brings it into the city through a covered conduit which once grossed the gap between Santa Thereza and Santo Antonio hills on two ranges of stone arches (now used as a viaduct) ; and the modern Rio do Ouro waterworks, which brings in an abundant supply from the Serra do Ting* some 3o m. north-west of the city. An extensive system of sewers has been constructed and a separate system of rain-water drains.
Buildings.—There remain many public edifices and dwellings of the colonial period, severely plain in appearance, with heavy stone walls and tile roofs. The old city palace facing upon Praca 15 de Novembro, once the residence of the fugitive Portuguese sovereign Dom Joao VI., is a good example. The 19th century brought no important modifications until near its close, when French and Italian styles began to appear, both in exterior decora tion and in architectural design. The Praca do Commercio (Merchants' Exchange) and post office on Rua I ° de Marco, and the national printing office near the Largo da Carioca, are notable examples. Since then exterior ornamentation and architectural eccentricities have run riot, and the city is now a mixture of the plain one-storey and two-storey buildings of the Portuguese type and fanciful modern creations, embellished with stucco and over topping the others by many storeys. At the southern end of the Avenida Rio Branco is a group of elegant State edifices : the Municipal theatre, the Monroe palace and the National library and Academy of Fine Arts. The Municipal theatre, designed in 1904, cost over 12,000,000, although it seats but 1,700 people.