Esplanada dos Ministérios

About this place

The Esplanade of the Ministries is the heart of Brazil's capital, Brasília, the eastern part of the «Monumental Axis», the long avenue drawn by the planner Lúcio Costa in his design for the city and opened with the city itself on 21 April 1960. The axis runs sixteen kilometres from the old bus and rail station in the west to the Three Powers Plaza in the east near Lake Paranoá, crossing the city's other axis at the central bus station, Brasília's «ground zero». Lining the esplanade stand the sixteen identical ministry buildings, parallel modernist blocks designed by Oscar Niemeyer, and at its end the National Congress with its twin towers and two domes, then the Three Powers Plaza with the seats of the executive, legislature and judiciary. People call the axis the «body of the plane», from the popular but mistaken belief that the city was designed in the shape of an aeroplane. Its broad central lawn hosts celebrations, fairs, competitions and demonstrations, and the best thing to do is walk along it towards the Congress at its end, above all at sunset. Combine it with Brasília Cathedral, the National Museum and the Itamaraty Palace; bring water and sun protection.