The Cemitério São João Batista in Botafogo is Rio's oldest and most distinguished cemetery — a vast walled city of elaborate mausoleums, obelisks, and tomb sculptures dating from the 1850s. It serves as the last resting place for much of Rio's historical establishment: presidents, marshals, poets, artists, and industrialists. Carmen Miranda is buried here, in a pink marble tomb that draws a steady stream of admirers.
The cemetery is a genuine work of outdoor sculpture and funerary architecture. The older sections have extraordinary 19th- and early 20th-century tombs in neo-classical, Gothic Revival, and Art Nouveau styles, overhung by tropical trees. It is open to the public and makes for a contemplative and architecturally rich walk — the kind of place that rewards an hour of unhurried exploration. Maps are available at the entrance.