MorrodoCastelo

Image description: This is a painting depicting a coastal city. On the left side, we see a hill covered in green vegetation. Moving to the right, we find a dense cluster of houses with white walls and red roofs. In the center, there is a fort with several structures and a raised flag. In the background, we see a mountain range and, on the right, a blue lake or river. In the lower part of the image, there is an area of vegetation near a body of water. The predominant color is the green of the trees and vegetation, contrasting with the lighter tones of the houses and the blue of the lake.

A hill that was the birthplace of Rio de Janeiro and that, for nearly 200 years, held the city's center of power. Perhaps that is the most succinct description of the importance of Morro do Castelo, the elevation surrounded by lowlands, at the edge of the bay, to which the first Portuguese inhabitants of what is now Rio de Janeiro were transferred. After defeating the French, in 1567, Mem de Sá decided to refound the city, moving the small settlement that lived on Morro Cara de Cão, in Urca, to the place that, before becoming established as Morro do Castelo, was also known as Morro do Descanso, Morro de São Januário, Alto da Sé, or Alto de São Sebastião.

Image description: This is a historic black-and-white photograph showing a panoramic view of a city. On the left side, we see a row of buildings with sloped roofs, some with taller façades. Moving toward the right, we find an open area with a few smaller structures and uneven terrain. At the center, there is a structure that appears to be a fortress or castle, with towers and walls. In the background, to the right, we see a hill covered in vegetation. The sky is clear, and there are no color elements in the image, as it is a black-and-white photograph.

From there, atop the hill that stretched across what is now part of downtown Rio, it was possible to keep an eye on the Ilha de Villegagnon, where the French could organize themselves for a new attack. And so, Morro do Castelo gradually gained a fortress, buildings that would serve the city's administration, churches, warehouses, and homes. The urban fabric that gave rise to the Rio de Janeiro capital unfolded from this core.

Among the powerful groups that occupied the Castelo hill were the Jesuits, who set up a college and a church there, until they were expelled from the colony in 1759 amid the marquis of Pombal's famous persecution. This episode gave rise to one of the longest-lasting and most amusing legends to inhabit the carioca imagination: that, while fleeing, the priests had left a treasure hidden in the underground tunnels. Lima Barreto even described, in serialized pieces published in the newspaper Correio da Manhã, the frisson that followed the discovery of one of these tunnels, during the first phase of the hill's demolition, in 1905.

Image description: This is a photograph of a historic building located at Morro do Castelo. The image shows a white building with several windows and a sloped roof. On the left, there is an entrance with a closed door. The ground in front of the building is covered with irregular stones, some of which are covered in green moss. In the background, there are green trees and a clear blue sky.

This first stage of the Bota-Abaixo was carried out to make way for Avenida Central, now Rio Branco. But the hill actually disappeared in 1920, supposedly to make room for the great international exhibition commemorating the one hundred years of Brazil's independence, in 1922. Not without a great deal of controversy, of course. Those in favor of tearing down the Castelo hill argued that it was also a matter of public health, since it would let air circulate better through the city. Those in favor of keeping it pointed to the place's enormous historical importance. The fact is that the Castelo hill was also a nuisance because, over time, it had stopped being upscale. Instead, it had become home to poor people, workers, and descendants of enslaved people.

The soil from leveling the hill was used to fill in part of the city's central area, making Santa Luzia beach disappear and giving rise to a piece of what later became the Flamengo landfill. If we look closely, there are still traces of Morro do Castelo in today's Rio. Ladeira da Misericórdia, with its modest 30 meters, is the only street left from the hill and is located at the end of the street of the same name, in the Centro area that, not by chance, is called Castelo. And, every once in a while, someone still wonders whether there might be some hidden treasure beneath the ground in downtown Rio.