SantoAntônioHill:TheSecondHill

Image description: This is a painting depicting a coastal city with a hill in the background. On the left side, we see several houses with red roofs, arranged on a flat area. Moving to the right, the terrain rises, revealing more houses and a fort with square structures. In the center of the image, there is a large rocky hill, known as Morro de Santo Antônio. In the background, we see the sea and other distant hills. The sky is clear with a few scattered clouds.

Morro de Santo Antônio – actually, what remains of it – is where the Convent and the Franciscan churches are located. Until the 19th century, its boundaries reached the streets of Lavradio, Carioca, Senador Dantas, and Evaristo da Veiga (formerly Rua dos Barbonos).

Image description: This is an image of a city map. On the left, we see streets such as "Rua da Carioca" and "Rua do Lavradio." In the center, there is a highlighted area with an orange circle surrounding the "Convento de Santo Antônio." On the right, we find streets such as "Rua Santo Antônio," "Rua Senador Danés," and "Rua do Passeio." The background features shades of gray and green, suggesting green areas and buildings.

The Order of St. Francis settled on the hill in the early 17th century, after the hill – at the time called Outeiro do Carmo – had been turned down by the Order of Our Lady of Carmo. The Carmelites chose instead to settle in an area closer to the sea, occupying the old hermitage of Nossa Senhora do Ó – the Benedictines' first home in Rio –, on what is now Rua Primeiro de Março. In 1607, the captaincy's governor, Martim de Sá, donated the land on the vacant hill to the Franciscans, who in 1608 laid the foundation stone of their convent. In 1615, the friars settled permanently on the hill, which came to be called Morro de Santo Antônio.

In order to make the site more salubrious, the friars requested that a ditch be dug to drain the waters of the marshy Santo Antônio lagoon. The lagoon was located where Avenida Chile and Avenida Rio Branco run today. It was this ditch, opened in 1641, that ended up defining the city's boundary, and the path became known as Rua da Vala – today Rua Uruguaiana. To connect the hill to the port, a road was also opened that, starting from Rua da Misericórdia and running to the Santo Antônio lagoon, gave rise to today's Rua São José.

Image description: This is a painting depicting the Largo da Carioca area in 1650, according to the caption provided. The scene is composed of natural elements and human-made structures. On the left side, we see a large mountain covered in green vegetation, with a lake in front of it. In the center, there is a road that goes down to a white house with a red roof, located near the lake. On the right, there is a white building with a yellow roof, which appears to be a church or public building. The sky is blue with a few white clouds.

In 1633, the chapel of the Venerable Third Order of St. Francis of Penance, established in Rio since 1619, was also built at the top of the hill. This chapel still exists today, but the Church of the Third Order moved to the plot next to the convent – donated by the Franciscan friars in the 1650s – and it is now one of the most richly ornamented Catholic churches in Brazil.

In 1718, in order to solve the city's water supply problems – which had existed since the beginning of colonization and were worsened by the growing number of inhabitants – some pipes were installed on Rua dos Barbonos, in order to meet the population's demand for water. The order came from the then governor of the captaincy, Antônio de Brito Freire de Meneses.

Aires Saldanha, who governed the captaincy from 1719 to 1725, extended the pipes to the Campo de Santo Antônio – now Largo da Carioca – and built the old Aqueduto da Carioca. In 1744, governor Gomes Freire ordered the construction of a new aqueduct, since the structure of the previous one had deteriorated over time. Inaugurated in 1750, the new aqueduct carried water to a marble fountain with 16 bronze spouts, in the Campo de Santo Antônio.

Image description: This is a painting depicting an urban landscape featuring an arched bridge. The bridge, with its multiple arches, stretches across the horizon, connecting two hills. On the left, we see a road descending the hill, where a man is walking. Further to the left, there is a small building with a red roof. In the lower part of the image, we see scattered pieces of brick on the ground. On the right, two individuals are sitting on a green lawn, while a woman sits on the ground near a bucket. In the background, several houses with red roofs are arranged on a hill.

There, Gomes Freire ordered the construction of a guard post to control the movement of people around the fountain, giving rise to Rua da Guarda Velha – today Treze de Maio. In 1834, Grandjean de Montigny designed a new fountain in the same location, with a greater number of spouts, to meet the city's growing demand for water. Montigny's fountain was demolished in 1925.

Image description: This is an old black-and-white photograph. In the center of the image, there is a large, imposing building with a classical facade, featuring large rectangular windows and ornamental architectural details. In front of the building, there are tall, well-maintained trees. On the left, three old automobiles are parked, with people standing near them. On the right, there is another old car parked. People are walking along the sidewalk, and the sky is clear, indicating a sunny day.

References: BARROS, Paulo Cezar. As grandes intervenções na área central do Rio de Janeiro: a geografia histórica do morro de Santo Antônio sob a ótica dos projetos urbanísticos. Revista geo-paisagem (online). Year 13, nº 25, January/June 2014.

BRASILIANA Fotográfica. "O Rio de Janeiro desaparecido" series VII – Morro de Santo Antônio at Casa de Oswaldo Cruz. Available at: https://brasilianafotografica.bn.gov.br/?p=13719

MACEDO, Joaquim Manuel. Um passeio pela cidade do Rio de Janeiro. 4th ed. Livraria Garnier, 1991.