Escadaria Selarón

The walk begins at the Arcos da Lapa. The Aqueduto da Carioca was built in the mid-eighteenth century to carry water from the springs of the Rio Carioca down to a public fountain at the Largo da Carioca, and was constructed using stone, lime, and whale oil — a mortar compound so durable the structure has stood essentially intact for nearly three centuries. From 1896 onward, the aqueduct was repurposed as a viaduct for the tram line connecting the city centre with Santa Teresa, a route still operating today. The 42 Roman-style double arches, 270 metres long and nearly eighteen metres high, form the most photographed frame in the neighbourhood: the yellow bondinho crosses them every half hour, rising into the hill above.

From the arches, the Escadaria Selarón climbs the hillside toward the old convent. The 215 steps were covered in over 2,000 tiles collected from more than sixty countries, the work of the Chilean-born artist Jorge Selarón, who began the project in 1990 as a private act of renovation on the dilapidated steps that ran past his house, and dedicated it as his tribute to the Brazilian people. He died on the steps in January 2013. The dominant colours — green, yellow, blue — are those of the Brazilian flag, but the work is cosmopolitan in its materials, with donated tiles from Portugal, France, Morocco, and dozens of other countries embedded alongside Selarón's own hand-painted panels, many depicting a recurring figure of a pregnant African woman. The staircase was officially listed as a heritage site by the city in 2005.