Santa Teresa

Santa Teresa sits on a hill between the Centro and the Tijuca forest, built up in the nineteenth century when wealthy families moved above the fever and the heat of the port, and it kept the mansions and the winding streets after the money left. The bondinho, a yellow open tram, still climbs from Carioca over the Lapa arches and through the lanes. The Museu Chacara do Ceu holds the Castro Maya collection of Brazilian and European art in a modernist house with a view over the bay - it lost several works to a robbery during Carnival in 2006 that has never been resolved. The Parque das Ruinas next door is the shell of a salon hostess's mansion, left roofless and fitted with walkways.

What's there

• The yellow tram - climbing from Carioca over the Lapa arches.
• Chacara do Ceu - the Castro Maya collection in a modernist house.
• Parque das Ruinas - a roofless mansion turned into a viewing platform.
• Coffee-era mansions - nineteenth-century houses now studios and guesthouses.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Before you go

The tram queues and runs a shortened route. The neighbourhood borders favelas and conditions vary street by street - stay on the main lanes, take advice locally and avoid walking down to Lapa at night. Streets are steep and cobbled.

Nearby

Lapa and the arches are below; the Selaron steps are at the foot of the hill.