National Museum of Brazil: Seven years after the fire, the public returns to the São Cristóvão Palace

The National Museum of Brazil , one of the main scientific and cultural centers in Latin America, reopened its doors to the public, provisionally and temporarily , seven years after the fire that destroyed a large part of its collection.

For the first time since the 2018 disaster , the public will be able to access three restored rooms of the museum at the São Cristóvão Palace in Rio de Janeiro to appreciate a temporary exhibition called Among Giants , which will be open until August 31 .

Among the main attractions of the small exhibition are the Bendegó meteorite , an iconic piece that survived the fire, and the skeleton of a 15.7-meter sperm whale suspended beneath a new skylight installed above the institution's monumental staircase.

The exhibition also includes restored marble sculptures , works by indigenous artist Gustavo Caboco, and a room dedicated to the history and reconstruction of the museum .

The provisional reopening was announced at an event at the institution's headquarters, attended by Education Minister Camilo Santana , who noted that the museum's full restoration and definitive reopening is planned for 2027 .

Those responsible for the reconstruction plan are for the museum to reopen with some 10,000 pieces on display in an area of between 6,000 and 7,000 square meters , double the number on display before the fire and in a space twice as large.

The National Museum, which housed some 20 million pieces dating from different periods , was devastated by a fire on September 2, 2018 , destroying nearly 85% of one of the most important collections in Latin America .

The fire, however, did not affect the structure of the Imperial Palace of Sao Cristóvão , a building from 1803 that was the residence of the Brazilian imperial family between 1822 and 1889.

Among the items recovered from the rubble are pieces from Italy, Egypt, Japan, Peru, and New Zealand, including a 19th-century samurai armor mask, a machete blade from New Zealand, and a bronze statue of the Egyptian goddess Bastet.