at a glance

Palácio do Catete (Catete Palace) was the on and off seat of the  Federal Government between 1897 and 1960.  It was built by the Barão de Nova Friburgo and it is regarded as a symbol of Brazil's flourishing economy during that period.  the baron was a particularly wealthy ruler, who was said to have had 17 coffee farms and 2,500 slaves to his name.

The third floor of the building was the President's chambers, and it was here that the widely admired, and politically adaptive President, Getúlio Vargas, famously committed suicide with a bullet to the heart when he received news of an impending military coup.  

the building was designed by a Prussian architect, Carl Gustav Waehneldt, in 1858, and manifests neoclassical and eclectic features. The interior of the palace is striking and architecturally impressive, coated in marble and boasting a wide, majestic staircase with sculptures made of bronze.