Lapa Arches

The Arcos da Lapa were finished in 1750 to bring water from the Carioca River in Santa Teresa down to a public fountain in the city, two tiers of forty-two arches in whitewashed stone crossing the valley at Lapa - the largest surviving colonial engineering work in Rio. When the aqueduct was retired in the 1890s the deck was converted to carry a tram line up to Santa Teresa, which it still does; the bondinho crosses the arches on its way up the hill. The service was suspended after a fatal derailment in August 2011; limited service returned with new cars in July 2015, and the full route to Dois Irmãos was restored only in January 2019. Below the arches is the centre of Lapa nightlife, with the samba bars and street parties that fill the area from Thursday to Sunday.

History

Early Rio was ringed by swamps, and from at least 1602 there were plans to bring water from the Carioca river on Santa Teresa hill; the first aqueduct, finished in 1723, fed a Baroque fountain in Santo Antônio square, but by 1744 it was in poor shape, and Governor Gomes Freire de Andrade had the engineer José Fernandes Pinto Alpoim build a larger one, inspired by the Águas Livres aqueduct in Lisbon. Inaugurated in 1750, it crosses between the hills of Santa Teresa and Santo Antônio on 270 metres of two-tiered arches, 42 in all and up to 17.6 metres high, and since the end of the 19th century it has carried the Santa Teresa tram (Wikipedia, Carioca Aqueduct).

What's there

• Forty-two arches in two tiers - a 1750 aqueduct across the Lapa valley.
• Trams on the deck - the bondinho crossing on its way to Santa Teresa.
• Colonial engineering at scale - the largest surviving work of its kind in Rio.
• The nightlife below - the samba bars that fill the arches area at weekends.

When to go

All year. An hour, or an evening if you stay for the bars.

Things to know

The tram queues at Carioca station, especially at weekends. Lapa at night is busy and requires normal city caution - carry little. The arches themselves are seen in a few minutes; the tram ride is the reason to allow more time.

Nearby

The Selaron steps are a few minutes away; Santa Teresa is at the top of the line.

Key facts