Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit Transcript AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: Of all the Brazilian cities staging games at the World Cup, none is more exotic than Manaus. It's nestled in the heart of the Amazon jungle. You can only get there by plane or boat - an unlikely place to host soccer games. And there's something else in Manaus that's unexpected - a centuries-old theater and opera house. NPR's Russell Lewis took a break from soccer and paid a visit. RUSSELL LEWIS, BYLINE: The first thing you notice about the Teatro Amazonas is how lovely it is. Then the beauty melts away and it's what you hear. (OPERA MUSIC PLAYING) LEWIS: Walking into the 700-seat auditorium is like stepping back in time. The theater is luxurious, built during a period of opulence by plantation owners during the rubber boom of the late-1800s. There's marble from Italy, bronze from Belgium, steal from Scotland. Paintings and wall-to-wall tapestries hang throughout. The theater's exterior dome is covered with 36,000
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