Charming architecture, cobbled streets, and a sense of community spirit give Santa Teresa, located on top of a hill overlooking Rio de Janeiro, an identity that is all its own. This unique character coupled with the superb panoramas out over Guanabara Bay and Centro have made the area popular with both tourists and locals. A tram and a series of brilliantly colored mosaic steps connect Santa Teresa with its neighbor, Lapa, at the foot of the hill. Only ten years ago, Lapa was a destitute area whose crumbling colonial buildings were home only to Rio’s deprived. A renaissance that began in the late 1990s, inspired by the return of the Circo Voador music club, has transformed this district into the city’s hottest nightspot. There is nowhere better for live Brazilian music than in the many botecos here, or beneath the Arcos da Lapa on Friday and Saturday nights.
Sights
Tram Rides
Trams are the best way to reach Santa Teresa from Centro. They jerk their way from a station next to the Catedral Metropolitana de S Sebasti, across the Arcos da Lapa, and up the steep streets of Santa Teresa.
The journey takes about 20 minutes and the trams are packed with colorful characters of all ages and backgrounds, many of whom are left precariously hanging onto the bars that run along the side of the tram.
• Tram terminal: Rua Lélio Gama • (021) 2240 5709
Largo das Neves
The smaller of Santa Teresa’s two praças (town squares) is a great place to sit and watch the world go by. There are several botecos and restaurants here serving cold beer, pizza, and seafood dishes. It is the starting point of the Santa Teresa Carnaval parade.
Largo dos Guimarães
Many of the neighborhood’s best restaurants are clustered around this square, including Espito Santa and Bar do Mineiro.
The area also features arts and crafts shops, and nearby, on Rua do Aqueducto, is a little yellow booth shaped like a tram, where the model trams found in many of Santa Teresa’s restaurants are made by artisan Getio.
Chácara do Céu
The Chara mansion, which has fantastic views over the city center, houses an exquisite art museum featuring European and Asian art as well as modern Brazilian works. It is linked by a small bridge to the Parque das Ruinas – the shell of another colonial mansion.
• Rua Murtinho Nobre 96, Santa Teresa
• (021) 2224 8524 • Open noon–5pm Wed–Mon
Ronnie Biggs
Ronnie Biggs was a member of the gang that carried out “The Great Train Robbery” in England in 1963. He escaped prison and fled to Rio where he settled in Santa Teresa. Biggs could not be extradited as he had fathered a Brazilian child. He returned voluntarily to the UK in 2001 because of ill health, where he is serving the rest of his sentence.
Museu Casa Benjamin Constant
This is the former home of Benjamin Constant, a political philosopher who led the republican movement and formulated key political ideas including the national motto, Ordem e Progresso (Order and Progress).
The museum contains many personal items and offers great views from the garden.
• Rua Monte Alegre 255, Santa Teresa • (021) 2509 1248
• Open 1–5pm Thu–Sun
Convento de Santa Teresa
The Santa Teresa district is named for this austere 17thcentury convent, which was built in honor of St. Teresa – founder of the Discalced Carmelite order of the Catholic Church and disciple and friend of St. John of the Cross. Although much of this convent is closed to visitors, there is a small museum as well as access to the very spot where St. Teresa was born and the little garden where she used to play as a child.
• Ladeira de Santa Teresa 52, Santa Teresa • (021)2224 2040 • Open 7am–5pm Tue–Fri
Arcos da Lapa
Lapa is dominated by this aquaduct passing over Avenida Mem de S・ which was built in 1724 to transport water from the Santa Teresa forest to the public drinking fountain near Largo da Carioca. Trams now run across the arches to and from Santa Teresa.
• Rua Frei Leandro 20, Jardim Botânico • (021)2226 1038 • Open 10am–5:30pm Mon–Fri
Ladeira do Selarón
These steps link Pra Cardos Cara in Lapa with Rua Hermenegildo de Barros in Santa Teresa. Their official name is the Ladeira de Santa Teresa but locals refer to them as the Ladeira do Selar – in homage to the Chilean artist who decorated them with colored and mirrored mosaic tiles. Although the bottom steps are safe in day time, taking the full walk along the steps is not advised.
• Praça Cardos Câmara, Lapa
Circo Voador
This concert arena and its coterie of musicians and artists have revitalized Lapa, which was once dangerous and decrepit. Shows at the Circo attracted visitors and brought new life to old samba clubs, encouraging new clubs to open. Some of Rio’s best acts, including Seu Jorge, began here. The Circo is a great place to check out Rio’s cutting-edge live talent.
• Rua dos Arcos s/n, Lapa
• (021) 25330354
Feira do Rio Antigo
On the first Saturday of each month there is a lively antiques and bric-a-brac fair on Rua do Lavradio, northeast of Arcos da Lapa. The streets fill up with old-fashioned furniture and household items, as well as people dancing to live bands playing samba and, unusually for Rio, tango.
