Where to Stay in Brasília, Federal District

What is Brasília known for?

Brasília is known for its modernist architecture and its plan as a purpose-built capital. Laid out on the Brazilian Highlands and inaugurated in 1960, the city holds a UNESCO World Heritage listing for its design. The Memorial JK honours Juscelino Kubitschek, who ordered it built, while the National Museum of the Brazilian Republic anchors the monumental core.

It is Brazil's seat of government.

What are the main landmarks in Brasília?

Brasília gathers its landmarks along a single monumental axis. The Memorial JK holds the tomb and legacy of Juscelino Kubitschek, near the Espaço Lúcio Costa, which honours the planner of the city. The National Museum of the Brazilian Republic and the Memorial dos Povos Indígenas stand along the same run, while the Os Candangos monument marks the builders.

Churches rise apart from the axis, among them the Santuário Dom Bosco and the Igrejinha Nossa Senhora de Fátima. Concrete and glass define them.

What is the history of Brasília?

Brasília was inaugurated in 1960 as a purpose-built capital on the Brazilian Highlands. President Juscelino Kubitschek ordered the city built to move the seat of government inland, replacing Rio de Janeiro as the capital of Brazil. Workers known as candangos raised it from open ground in a few short years, a feat marked by the Os Candangos monument.

The plan was new. Laid out to a single design, the city followed the vision of its planner, remembered at the Espaço Lúcio Costa. The Memorial JK keeps the tomb and story of the president who drove the project.

Around the monumental axis, the National Museum of the Brazilian Republic and the Memorial dos Povos Indígenas record the young capital and the peoples of the country. From bare highland grew the third-largest city in Brazil, its modernist design later listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The whole city was drawn at once.

Its history is short but deliberate.

Where is Brasília?

Brasília is the capital of Brazil and the seat of the Federal District, set on the Brazilian Highlands. It stands on a high plateau. The monumental axis runs straight across the open ground, lined by the Memorial JK and the National Museum of the Brazilian Republic.

Little rises above the flat horizon. The highland light is wide and hard.

What is the climate of Brasília?

Brasília has a tropical climate marked by a sharp split between wet and dry seasons. Summers bring heavy afternoon storms over the Brazilian Highlands, while the dry winter months turn the air thin and dusty. The plateau keeps nights cool.

Rain all but stops for weeks in the dry season. The sky stays vast.

How do you get to Brasília?

Brasília is a central transport hub for travel across Brazil. Built as the capital in the middle of the country, it draws long-haul flights and highways from every region toward the Federal District. Most cross-country journeys pass through here.

From the capital, roads run out across the highland in all directions. Air and road lead in.