located in a beautiful and historic neoclassical building from the 1940s, which was previously the headquarters of the ministry of finance, the museu da fazenda federal was inaugurated in 1970 in order to preserve and exhibit information on the history of the brazilian economy and financial administration.

it was built by a team of architects, engineers and designers under the direction of engineer ary fontoura de azambuja, during the estado novo - the period under the rule of president getúlio vargas between 1937 and 1945, when rio was capital of brazil.