These two Rios were mutually formative of one another - the authors were inspired and impelled by the marvels of the city and the world they witnessed developing around them, while the city itself was shaped in the mind of its residents by writers' depictions of it, who waxed lyrical about its cultural riches - its bars, cafés, theatres, cinemas and social soirees.

Indeed, Coelho Neto, one of brazil's most important writers and thinkers, was referring to this buzzing metropolitan lifestyle when he coined the phrase 'cidade maravilhosa' (marvelous city) in 1928. Throughout this period of literary and intellectual effervescence, the city center of Rio shone as protagonist of cultural pleasure and riches.