TheslopesofMorrodoCastelo

If Rio rose up like a typical Portuguese city – with the main political, administrative, defense, and religious institutions atop the hill – it was at the foot of the Morro do Castelo that everyday life emerged, with an incipient trade and a few houses. And this was made possible thanks to the opening of a slope, laid out almost at the same time as the city's core: the Ladeira da Misericórdia.

Image description: This is a black-and-white photograph of a street in a neighborhood with historic buildings. On the left side, there is a building with a light-colored façade and evenly spaced windows. In the background, other taller, older buildings rise up. On the right, there is a lower structure with a sloped roof. In the center, a small structure with a tiled roof is visible. Trees are scattered in the foreground, and a person is walking along the street.

At the beginning of Rio de Janeiro's urban formation, the Ladeira da Misericórdia was the only access route to Morro do Castelo, which, in its dimensions, extended as far as the present-day streets São José, Santa Luzia and México and the Largo da Misericórdia. With urban expansion and the descent toward the lowlands, two other accesses were opened: the Ladeira do Carmo and the Ladeira do Seminário.

Image description: The image is a digital map, possibly of a Brazilian city, with a focus on downtown. On the left, we see streets and buildings marked with blue and green icons. On the right, there is a large body of water, representing the sea. In the center, two important areas stand out: "Largo da Misericórdia" and "Museu Naval." The route traced in blue starts near the "Paço Imperial," passes through "Rua São José, 8 - Centro," and ends near "Largo da Misericórdia." The estimated travel time is 24 minutes, covering a distance of 1.7 km.

The Misericórdia one was the only one of the three slopes to have a stretch preserved after the demolition of the Morro do Castelo, completed in 1922. This small 40-meter stretch withstood the passage of time and preserved its paving, made in pé de moleque style – irregularly sized stones – by enslaved people. Currently, the Ladeira da Misericórdia occupies a small space beside the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Bonsucesso (one of the oldest in the city) and the building of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia hospital. In 2017, the stretch was granted heritage protection by IPHAN for being one of the most important remnants of the city's emergence.

Image description: This is an old photograph of a street in "As ladeiras do Morro do Castelo." On the left side, we see a small building with railings and a staircase. In front, there is a man walking on the sidewalk. In the center, there is a large house with balconies and windows decorated with cords. On the right, there is another building with arches and a tree in front of it. In the background, we see a row of tall palm trees. The sky is clear and the ground is light-colored.

The Ladeira do Carmo and Ladeira do Seminário were not preserved. The latter had other names: Ladeira do Poço do Porteiro, da Mãe do Bispo, and da Ajuda, and it went downhill toward what are now Cinelândia and Avenida Rio Branco. The Ladeira do Carmo (also known as do Cotovelo or do Colégio) led toward the top of the hill, to the Colégio dos Jesuítas. The Colégio's facilities were used for other purposes after the Jesuits were expelled in 1759. It served as a Military Hospital (1760s) and, later, as an Astronomical Observatory (1846), which included a signal post for communication with the fortresses of Guanabara Bay. In 1922, the Colégio building came down along with the hill.

Image description: This is a historic black-and-white photograph of a city with a panoramic view. The image shows a series of buildings arranged on a hill, with a slope descending from the top to the base of the hill. In the lower part of the image, we see a church with domes and towers, identified as the São José Church. Moving upward and further back in the image, we see more residential and commercial buildings, including multi-story structures. In the background, there is a series of houses and buildings extending up to the top of the hill. On the right, there is a fortification or prominent building. The Carmo or Colégio slope is clearly visible, with the Jesuit Church located at its end.

References:

BEZERRA, Rafael Z., LENZI, Maria I., JOÃO, Cristiane R. V. (orgs.) So important, so forgotten: Misericórdia neighborhood. Rio de Janeiro: Museu Histórico Nacional, 2016

LENZI, Maria I. R. The old neighborhood of Misericórdia. In FERNANDES, Neusa et alii. Cantos e encantos do Rio. 1st ed. Rio de Janeiro: Mauad X, 2022.