Manaus Day 2: A day touring the city…

Manaus has had an interesting history.  It rose in wealth with the vulcanization of rubber.  However, the seeds to rubber plants were stolen and taken to other parts of the world.  There was a bust.  Today it is an industrial center.  Parts come in from other parts of the world and they are assembled in Manaus.  Major manufacturers are here in this small city on the Amazon River.

I visited the Teatro Amazonas Opera House as part of the tour.  It was completed in 1896, and it was supposed to give you the impression you were looking up under the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

With the rubber boom, this home was built by a German businessman in order to convince his wife to move to Manaus.

This is a replica of the Brooklyn Bridge in miniature. 

The front entrance of the Amazon Opera House is very grand.

The square and church are next door to the theater.

A view from the side.  You can see the tiled dome.

The workman were preparing the stained glass as our group visited the building.

A large and ornate government building from the time of great wealth in Manaus.

The interior of the opera house is beautiful.

The best seats are the orchestra seats below, butt he rich wanted to be seen in the boxes that are in the balconies.

The ceiling is meant to resemble looking up under the Eiffel Tower.

The Opera House was completed in 1896.  I'm glad they added air conditioning in the 1990s.  It was a cool respite from the heat.

Members of the orchestra were arriving for a practice.

Here's the ceiling of the dance floor which is upstairs next door to the theater.

There are beautiful wall paintings and murals in the ballroom.

The dance floor contains woods from the Amazon (mahogany). 

One of the glass light fixture.

I got to listen to a number from the rehearsal.  The acoustics are amazing.