Museu Nacional

The National Museum prior to its destruction in 2018, burning to the ground, was the oldest museum and is the oldest scientific institution of Brazil, once holding one of the largest museums' collection of natural history and anthropology in the world. The museum was installed in the Paço de São Cristóvão , inside the Quinta da Boa Vista, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, which was previously the residence of the Portuguese Royal Family between 1808 and 1821, housed the Brazilian Imperial Family between 1822 and 1889, and also hosted the Republican Constituent Assembly from 1889 to 1891, before being assigned to the use of the museum in 1892. The building has been listed as Brazilian National Heritage since 1938.Founded by King João VI of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves on 6 June 1818, under the name of Royal Museum, the institution was initially housed at the Campo de Santana park, where it exhibited the collections incorporated from the former House of Natural History, popularly known as Casa dos Pássaros , created in 1784 by the Viceroy of Brazil, Luís de Vasconcelos e Sousa, 4th Count of Figueiró, as well as collections of mineralogy and zoology. The museum foundation was intended to address the interests of promoting the socioeconomic development of the country by the diffusion of education, culture, and science. In the 19th century, the institution was already established as the most important South American museum of its type. In 1946, it was incorporated into the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.Before a September 2018 fire, the National Museum held a vast collection with more than 20 million objects, encompassing some of the most important material records regarding natural science and anthropology in Brazil, as well as numerous items that came from other regions of the world and were produced by several cultures and ancient civilizations. Formed along more than two centuries through expeditions, excavations, acquisitions, donations and exchanges, the collection was subdivided into seven main nuclei: geology, paleontology, botany, zoology, biological anthropology, archaeology, and ethnology. The collection was the principal basis for the research conducted by the academic departments of the museum – which are responsible for carrying out activities in all the regions of the Brazilian territory and several places of the world, including the Antarctic continent. The museum also holds one of the largest scientific libraries of Brazil, with over 470,000 volumes and 2,400 rare works.In the area of education, the museum offers specializations, extension and post-graduation courses in several fields of the knowledge, in addition to hosting temporary and permanent exhibitions and educational activities open to the general public. The museum manages the Horto Botânico , adjacent to the Paço de São Cristóvão, as well as an advanced campus in the city of Santa Teresa, in Espírito Santo – the Santa Lúcia Biological Station, jointly managed with the Museum of Biology Prof. Mello Leitão. A third site, located in the city of Saquarema, is used as a support and logistics center for field activities. Finally, the museum is also dedicated to editorial production, outstanding in that field the Archivos do Museu Nacional, the oldest scientific journal of Brazil, continuously published since 1876.The palace, which housed a large part of the collection, was destroyed in a fire on the night of 2 September 2018. The building had been called a firetrap by critics, who argued the fire was predictable and could have been prevented. In the wake of the fire, the ruined edifice is undergoing reconstruction efforts, with a metallic roof covering 5,000 m² area including debris, being treated as an archaeological site.
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