Laranjeiras is an upper-middle-class neighborhood located in the Zona Sul

Zona Sul

Zona Sul is an area of the city of Rio de Janeiro located between the Tijuca Massif, the Atlantic Ocean and Guanabara Bay. It is mainly made up of neighbourhoods that are located on the Atlantic coastline, as São Conrado, Vidigal, Leblon, Ipanema, Copacabana, and Leme.There are also neighbourhoods...

 area of Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

. Primarily residential, It is one of the city's oldest neighborhoods, having been founded in the 17th century, with the construction of country houses in the valley located around the Carioca River

Carioca River

The Carioca River is a river of Rio de Janeiro state in southeastern Brazil. It runs, largely in culvert, from the Tijuca forest through the city of Rio de Janeiro to Flamengo Beach on Guanabara bay.-References:*...

, which bordered Corcovado Mountain. Because of this, the neighborhood was previously called Vale do Carioca, or Carioca Valley.

While primarily residential, several important governmental, cultural, and sports institutions and schools make this a bustling neighborhood. Well known landmarks in Laranjeiras include the Palácio Guanabara (seat of the state government of Rio de Janeiro), the Palácio Laranjeiras (official residence of the state's governor), and the Parque Guinle (Guinle Park), as well as the headquarters and Laranjeiras Stadium of Fluminense Football Club

Fluminense Football Club

Fluminense Football Club is a sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Founded in the beginning of the 20th century as a single-sport institution, Fluminense is today an umbrella organization for several teams in more than 16 different sport activities. The most popular endeavor of Fluminense,...

, and Rio's branch of the Hebraica Social and Sports Club, and several others.

Laranjeiras is adjacent to the Cosme Velho

Cosme Velho

Cosme Velho is a traditional neighborhood in the Southern Zone of Rio de Janeiro, adjacent to Laranjeiras. Its main street is Rua Cosme Velho . It is a small neighborhood, but with much to interest tourists....

 neighborhood.

Laranjeiras' main streets (ruas) are:

• Rua das Laranjeiras
• Rua Conde de Baependi
• Rua Pinheiro Machado
• Rua General Glicério
• Rua Pereira da Silva
• Rua Alice
• Rua São Salvador
• Rua Gago Coutinho
• Rua Mário Portela
• Rua Sebastião Lacerda
• Rua Cardoso Júnior
• Rua Pires de Almeida.

Well-known people that live, or have lived in Laranjeiras include:

• Cartola
  Cartola
  Angenor de Oliveira, known as Cartola , was a Brazilian singer, composer and poet considered to be a major figure in the development of samba.Cartola composed, alone or with partners, more than 500 songs.-Biography:...
  
   (Angenor de Oliviera), singer, composer and poet.
• Cássia Eller
  Cássia Eller
  Cássia Rejane Eller was a Brazilian musician. She performed a fusion of rock and MPB.- Biography :After spending most of her adolescence in Brasília, Eller dropped out of high school and returned to her birthplace of Rio de Janeiro, where she began a career as a recording artist...
  
  , singer.
• Machado de Assis, writer.
• Mel Lisboa
  Mel Lisboa
  Mel Lisboa Alves is a Brazilian actress born in Porto AlegreIn 2001, at the age of 19, she debuted on TV playing the 18-year-old protagonist in the series Presença de Anita on Brazilian TV Rede Globo....
  
  , actress.
• Paulo Gracindo, actor.
• Heráclito Fontoura Sobral Pinto
  Heráclito Fontoura Sobral Pinto
  Heráclito Fontoura Sobral Pinto was a Brazilian lawyer known for his human rights activism and devout Catholicism...
  
  , human rights lawyer.

External links

• Os Bairros (the districts of Rio de Janeiro, in Portuguese)