Esplanada dos Ministerios

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Brasília
Brasília Maps

Esplanada dos Ministérios - Ministry Boulevard

The images below show aerial photos of the Esplanada dos Ministérios in Brasília. For a broader view, check out this map of Brasília seen from 10 miles high.

This photo shows an broader view of the Three Powers Square, including now a view of the Esplanade of Ministries (in Portuguese, Esplanada dos Ministérios).

The Esplanade is the Easternmost extreme of the Monumental Axis (Eixo Monumental). The Monumental Axis is visible in the image as the two parallel lines going from right to left (there is a distance of about 500 meters between them).
The Ministries buldings are lined along both sides of the Esplanade.

The original idea was to place the Ministries according to their age (the older the Ministry, the closer to the Three Powers Square). That's why the first buildings in the Esplanade are the Ministry of Justice, in the northern side, and the Ministry of Foreigner Relations, in the southern side.

These two ministries have other peculiarities: those are the only ones with an specific name (the Ministry of Justice is called Palace of Justice, and the Ministry of Foreigner Relations is called Palace of Itamaraty), and are the only ones to have an specific architectural design.

All other buildings have the same design: six floors, long corridors, large windows. Some of the Ministries (the busier ones, like Finances and Defense) are connected to an Annex (nearly as big as the respective main building) by a catwalk. All Ministries have a parking loot, and most have a good infrastructure service (restaurants, banks, newstands, etc).

The small circular building at the left of the image is the Metropolitan Cathedral of Brasilia.