During the construction of VLT line 3, in 2018, fragments, objects, and bone remains from the church were found, built in 1758 and demolished during the Pereira Passos reform, in 1904.
During the excavations for the Veículo Leve sobre Trilhos, the Rio light rail (VLT carioca), many traces of a Rio de Janeiro that had already disappeared were found. It's no coincidence that a team of archaeologists accompanied the work prior to the installation of the tracks, being able to come across discoveries such as, for example, that of the foundations of the Igreja de São Joaquim, found in 2018. The small baroque church was built in 1758, on the site where, today, avenida Passos meets rua Marechal Floriano, next to a former seminary that gave way to the Colégio Pedro II.
Image description: This is an old photograph of a church. The church is centered in the image, with two side towers and a frontispiece adorned with architectural details. To the left, there is a smaller building, possibly a structure adjacent to the church. In the foreground, we see a square with people walking and carriages. The sky is clear, and the lighting suggests the photo was taken during the day. At the bottom of the image, there is text in Portuguese that reads: "I. S. Joaquim. Temolindo-se para prolongamento".Photo: Igreja de São Joaquim - Museu da República Collection
In addition to remnants of the construction, archaeologists found ceramics and bones, which prove that the church also served as a cemetery, probably for a few privileged members of the Catholic elite, as was customary at the time. Its demolition, in 1904, was part of the "bota-abaixo" carried out by mayor Pereira Passos, who undertook an urban reform of the city, between 1903 and 1906, inspired by the Parisian remodeling undertaken by Baron Haussmann.
Image description: The image is a photograph of a worker at an archaeological excavation site. The person is kneeling, wearing a white safety helmet and a gray shirt with orange details. They are holding a small tool in their hands, possibly to remove material from the exposed remains. The remains appear to belong to a large animal, with vertebrae and ribs visible. In the background, there is a black bag and some metal cables. On the left, there is a curved plastic tube and a yellow object that looks like a saw or cutting tool.Ossada encontrada onde era a Igreja de São Joaquim, durante as escavações das obras do VLT. Foto: Tomaz Silva - Agência Brasil
The traces left by the church are a reminder that it is not only unhealthy dwellings that tend to be torn down by the modernizing drive of Rio's mayors, but also historic buildings, structures with unique features that would have served as a precious record of our memory.
