Brazil (Belo Horizonte [Minas Gerais])

Praça da Liberdade

The park-like Praça da Liberdade lies to the south of Funcionários. With its beautiful trees, Edwardian bandstand and fountains, the square is a wonderful place to sit and while away the time and is especially popular on weekends when residents of neighbouring apartment buildings come out to rollerblade or sit and read in the sun. The square is dominated by the elegant French Art-Nouveau-style Palácio da Liberdade (Sun 9am–2pm), built between 1895 and 1898 as the residence of the president of Minas Gerais.
Today, the palácio remains the administrative centre of the state government and the official residence of the governor, primarily used for state functions. Other buildings to look out for on the square include the flowing lines of the Edifício Niemeyer apartment building, designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer in the 1950s, and, directly across from it, the ugly glass-and-steel Centro de Apoio Turístico Tancredo Neves, headquarters and information office of the state tourist office, TURMINAS (Mon–Fri 12.30–6.30pm). The future of TURMINAS is in constant doubt, and there are currently plans for a museum of gems and minerals to be housed in the building.