The estate
A rubber-boom setting.
lubasi — CC BY-SA 2.0 · lubasi — CC BY-SA 2.0 · lubasi — CC BY-SA 2.0 · lubasi — CC BY-SA 2.0
The Museu do Seringal Vila Paraíso recreates an Amazon rubber estate of the late 19th and early 20th centuries on the São João creek in rural Manaus. Its origin is unusual: the buildings were put up as a film set for «A Selva» by the Portuguese director Leonel Vieira, then handed to the Amazonas state government, which opened them as a museum on 16 August 2002. It shows how rubber was tapped and processed, and contrasts the lives of the seringueiros, rubber tappers trapped in poverty and debt, with the luxury of the seringalistas who owned the estates, across the rebuilt estate buildings. It is a good way to understand the rubber boom that built Manaus's theatre and mansions. It can only be reached by boat from Marina do Davi in Ponta Negra, about thirty minutes away. It opens Monday to Saturday (except Wednesday) 9:00-15:00 and Sunday 9:00-13:00. Tickets are R$20 (R$10 reduced), with the boat paid separately.
A rubber-boom setting.
From tree to block.
Through the creeks.
Igarapé São João, a tributary of the Tarumã-Mirim, rural Manaus
By boat only, from Marina do Davi in Ponta Negra, about thirty minutes; the museum is closed on Wednesdays.