Perhaps the most photographed place in Palmas is the Memorial Coluna Prestes. This is a must-visit place in this city! The memorial impresses with its scale and architecture.

As the name suggests, the memorial is dedicated to the passage of the Coluna Prestes, a Brazilian armed guerrilla formation, through this region in the early 20th century. The goal of the invincible march was to encourage residents to fight against the oligarchic dictatorship. In the period between 1920 and 1930, the revolutionaries marched through the territory of the modern State of Tocantins: in total, they managed to overcome 25 thousand kilometers in 14 regions of the country! Unfortunately, the participants failed to form a large-scale uprising. However, this event went down in the history of Brazil — a country that had been fighting for its independence for many years.

The Memorial Coluna Prestes was created by world-famous architect Oscar Niemeyer. The memorial covers an area of ​​570 square meters. The building, opened in 2001, houses an exhibition hall, a 99-seat auditorium as well as an archive of documents and items related to Brazilian revolutionary forces of the 20th century. In total, 81 original exhibits are stored there. By the way, the ramp at the entrance to the building is painted red not by chance: this is a symbol of blood spilled for the freedom of the motherland.

Part of the memorial complex is also a bronze statue of the leader of the liberation movement, Luis Carlos Prestes. It is also red. It was created by the sculptor Mauricio Bentes. The monument is on a concrete pedestal, which is connected to the building of the exhibition complex. By the way, the memorial generally resembles a hammer and sickle, because Prestes was a communist. Thus, the scarlet color in the composition has another meaning.

The entrance to the memorial complex is free. It`s open from Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.