Orchid House, Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden

Built of iron and glass in the 1930s within the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden, this house reopened to the public on 1 May 2022 after two years of closure and a renovation costing around 300,000 reais. The scientific collection holds more than 7,500 orchids: some 4,000 native specimens (85 genera, around 419 species), 1,262 exotics and 2,261 hybrids. The public glasshouse displays 630 of them, arranged in hanging gardens staggered to flower across the seasons. A sensory garden allows visitors to touch selected plants, and a section devoted to micro-orchids is fitted with magnifying lenses.