Known as the "Paris of the Jungle" during the rubber boom around the turn of the century, Manaus was carved out of the heart of the tropical Amazon region. Rubber barons and robbers rubbed elbows in this once-glorious city on the banks of the Rio Negro. The spectacular Teatro do Amazonas, an ornate opera house built at a cost of $10 million in 1896, is perhaps the finest reminder of those boom town days. Modern Manaus is a dichotomy of vintage mansions and contemporary skyscrapers, surrounded by the largest rain forest on earth.