however, when the ruler returned to portugal the garden was opened to the public in 1822 and renamed the royal botanical garden - the 'royal' was then dropped from the name in 1890 as a result of brazil becoming a republic.

the garden covers around 83 hectares of forest and a further 54 hectares of garden, including several colonial buildings, fountains, sculptures, over 6500 species of plants, and a number of preserved fauna types from the mata atlântica (atlantic forest).

also of noble descent, the former royal family's residence near the northern edge of rio de janeiro's downtown, quinta da boa vista, resides on the avenida bartolomeu de gusmã not far from são cristóvão metrô stop, and now home to the museu nacional.