Pequena África and the port: Valongo, Pedra do Sal and Morro da Conceição: a walk in Rio de Janeiro

The port district where enslaved Africans landed and where samba was born: the Valongo Wharf (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), the burial ground of the Pretos Novos, the hanging garden of Valongo, the old hill of Morro da Conceição and the quilombo rock of Pedra do Sal, ending at the new museums of Praça Mauá.

Best time: Tuesday to Friday from 10:00 (the IPN is open Tue-Fri 10:00-16:00 and Sat 10:00-13:00; the MAR is closed on Wednesdays and free on Tuesdays). Come back to Pedra do Sal for samba from 18:00, Friday to Monday.

The route, stop by stop

1
Instituto Pretos Novos (IPN)
Memorial and museum over the cemetery of the 'pretos novos', newly arrived enslaved Africans who died after landing; run as a research institute since 2005 (Tue-Fri 10:00-16:00, Sat 10:00-13:00). 40 min
A family found human bones while renovating this house in 1996: it sits on the Cemitério dos Pretos Novos, the burial ground of enslaved Africans who died just after landing at…
2
Valongo Wharf
The stone wharf built in 1811 where between 500,000 and one million enslaved Africans landed until 1831; later the Empress's Wharf. 20 min
The stone quay where about a million enslaved Africans landed between 1811 and 1831, the largest slave port of the diaspora. Buried in 1911 and rediscovered in 2011 port works…
3
Jardim Suspenso do Valongo
Romantic garden of 1906 by Luis Rey, 7 m above the street on the slope of Morro da Conceição; reached by stairs from Rua Camerino. 15 min
A romantic hanging garden built in 1906 on a retaining wall seven metres above the street, with replica statues of Minerva, Mercury, Ceres and Mars. It overlooks the old…
4
Pedra do Sal
Rock with carved steps, a former quilombo site listed by INEPAC in 1984 and the centre of 'Little Africa', where Donga, João da Baiana and Pixinguinha played. Samba circles Friday to Monday from 18:00 (Time Out). 15 min
The rock stairway at the heart of Pequena África, where enslaved workers unloaded salt and where samba was born in the houses of Bahian 'tias' and early sambistas like Donga. A…
5
Fortaleza da Conceição (Morro da Conceição)
18th-century fortress on top of Morro da Conceição, one of the four hills where the city grew; walk the quiet residential lanes that kept their old Portuguese-quarter feel. 30 min
6
Rio Art Museum (MAR)
Art museum on Praça Mauá opened in 2013, in two linked buildings with a rooftop view of the port (11:00-18:00, closed Wednesdays; BRL 20, free on Tuesdays). 75 min
Two buildings on Praça Mauá joined by a wave-shaped roof, opened in March 2013, with shows that read the city's history, social life and conflicts through art. The rooftop…
7
Museum of Tomorrow
Santiago Calatrava's science museum on the Mauá pier, opened in 2015 (BRL 40, half price BRL 20; BRL 10 on the 10th of each month). 90 min
Santiago Calatrava's white science museum on the old Mauá pier, opened in December 2015. The main show 'Do Cosmos a Nós' runs through cosmos, Earth, the Anthropocene and possible…

Walking directions

Pequena África and the port: Valongo, Pedra do Sal and Morro da Conceição

The route, stop by stop

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