Cultural Centers tend to take a governing topic or theme, around which an assortment of creative exhibitions, performance and activities blossom and circulate. with this in mind, there is a blurry line between museums and cultural centers - at times museums also constitute cultural centers, and based on this appraoch we listed the most important museums in rio here, classified by area of pertinence. the prefeitura (city hall) do rio de janeiro publishes a complete and updated list on their website.

many of the city's libraries also accommodate cultural centres, for that reason we have included a list of them here.

theatro municipal, located in cinelândia in downtown rio, is a good place to start a cultural exploration of the city. completed in 1909, the building provides seating for over two thousand theatre lovers. visitors are able to watch various shows from ballet to the opera as well as classic and contemporary theatre performances.