Visitors to Rio are sure to find beautiful beaches and wonderful food. A cable car ride up Sugar Loaf Mountain provides panoramic views of the city. The statue of Christ the Redeemer on the Corcovado is one of the wonders of the world, and the city is full of historic churches and museums. where around one million enslaved Africans disembarked during the transatlantic slave trade has opened to visitors after a years-long refurbishment project The $400,000 renovation ensures that the wharf will retain its Unesco World Heritage status after several setbacks prompted speculation that it would not be completed in time to meet its contractual obligations to the cultural arm of the United Nations Unesco calls the wharf “the most important physical trace of the arrival of African slaves on the American continent” was rediscovered in 2011 during a citywide revitalisation project ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics when construction workers uncovered several cobblestoned slabs in the port archaeologists recovered around 1.5 million artefacts from the former marketplace where enslaved people were bought and sold To be inscribed on the Unesco World Heritage List a site must present “cultural or natural significance which transcends national boundaries” as well as “meet certain conditions and have an adequate protection and management system to ensure its safeguarding” a Unesco representative for Brazil tells The Art Newspaper There have been just three examples of sites losing their World Heritage designation since Unesco was founded in 1945—Oman’s Arabian Oryx Sanctuary (delisted in 2007 when Oman reduced the size of the protected area by 90%) Germany’s Dresden Elbe Valley (removed in 2009 due to a four-lane bridge project) and the Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City (delisted in 2021 because of waterfront development) Unesco originally mandated a 2018 opening of the Valongo Wharf to the public a management committee (required by Unesco to monitor efforts to preserve the site) was formed but met only twice before it was dissolved by the administration of then-President Jair Bolsonaro Brazil’s National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan)—the federal department that manages cultural sites—voted to keep the committee dormant and Unesco continued to extend the deadline The committee has been “very active over the past few months, overseeing activities such as the recent renovation work on the site”, the Unesco representative says, adding that Unesco is constantly on the lookout for any potential risks to the integrity of the site. “To our knowledge, no such threats affect the Valongo Wharf today.” The wharf’s overdue renovation was completed swiftly after the committee was reinstated, transforming the site into an open-air museum with the addition of lights, surveillance cameras, sculptures, hydraulic pumps to prevent flooding across the 350-metre-long site and educational kiosks created by Ynaê Lopes dos Santos—a historian who specialises in race relations in the Americas and a professor at Rio’s Fluminense Federal University. “Valongo is a portal that allows a critical review of Brazilian history,” Lopes dos Santos says. “It’s a history that is polyphonic and that, on the one hand, tells of the racism that structures the country, while at the same time emphasising how Africans and their descendants were fundamental to the economic, cultural, symbolic and material construction of Brazil.” At the Valongo Wharf’s unveiling in November, several Candomblé priests performed a purification ritual and anointed the space with flowers and other materials with spiritual significance. Early last year, the Lula administration introduced a ministry entirely devoted to racial equality. It is spearheaded by Anielle Franco, the sister of the late politician and human rights activist Marielle Franco, who was assassinated in 2018 by former military police officers associated with Bolsonaro. The department largely focuses on strengthening cultural projects related to African heritage. One of its first major endeavours has been working on the Valongo Wharf and its forthcoming museum. In a ceremony inaugurating the Valongo Wharf, the Iphan president, Leandro Grass, said that his agency would prioritise projects related to African cultural heritage in its budget. “We are working so that African culture is valued,” he said. “It’s a strategy to combat racism and racial inequality in this country.” news1 February 2019Rio de Janeiro's slave wharf museum gains ground The Unesco-listed site is due to receive a museum of Afro-Brazilian culture For more information about how we and our partners use cookies on our site, see our Cookie Policy These cookies are necessary for the Savills website to function Examples of this include: setting your privacy preferences Though these cookies cannot be switched off you can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies but please be aware that this will stop some parts of the Savills website from functioning as intended Find out more about strictly necessary cookies here These cookies are used to enhance the performance of the Savills website as without them certain functions of the website may not be available While they are not vital for the website to run they allow us to remember important information and your preferences such as previous location searches Find out more about functional cookies here These cookies record your activity on the Savills website and our partners may use that information to show you adverts that they think you will be most interested in when you visit other websites We may also use information recorded by these cookies to see how well these adverts are performing Find out more about targeting and tracking cookies here Find a property Find the property that brings your vision to life needs and aspirations and we won’t stop until we’ve found you the right fit From first homes to rural land and commercial opportunities we have a specialist expert that knows the market inside out Have a question? 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We're here to provide you with more information or connect you with the right people to help with your needs Earth Day 2025: the role of solar power in commercial real estate Earth Day is the world’s largest environmental awareness initiative 2025’s theme – ‘Our Power Our Planet’ – spotlights the urgent need to scale up renewable energy to triple clean electricity generation worldwide by 2030.  The Industry & Logistics Department at Savills was responsible for securing the Chinese multinational company Aosheng’s relocation to its new facilities at Panattoni Park – Valongo Logistics Platform Savills acted on behalf of Panattoni Iberia which can accommodate up to 75,000 sq m of logistics platforms(distributed in 2 warehouses) features a BREEAM Very Good certification and a prime location with direct access to A41 just 2 km from A4 and only 25 minutes from downtown Porto It also features a set of characteristics that meet the latest industry standards one of the world’s largest manufacturers of components for the wind energy sector will establish a carbon fiber component manufacturing plant for wind turbine blades at Panattoni Park states: “Panattoni Park Valongo is a premium logistics platform designed to meet the most demanding industry requirements It has been a privilege to participate in the leasing of Aosheng’s first facilities in Portugal strengthening the role Savills has been playing in this sector We are delighted to see that the northern region of the country continues to attract large companies reflecting the commitment to the development of sustainable Gustavo Cardozo Managing Director & Partner da Panattoni Iberia states: "This agreement reinforces our commitment to the development of cutting-edge logistics infrastructure in Portugal “Panattoni Park Porto Valongo” has been designed with the present and future needs of our clients in mind so we are convinced that it will provide Aosheng with a strategic base to enhance its growth and development in the country.” states that “It is first time for Aosheng to step our footprint outside China We believe our selection on Panattoni Valongo for the development of Aosheng’s first oversea production unit will fulfill our outlook of shortening the lead time for our customers in Europe bringing ourselves closer to them and impoving our general competitiveness in wind power market” ' + articleIntroContainer[0].innerHTML + ' inicia sessão ou cria uma Conta SL Benfica Criar conta › Benfica-Sporting: tickets temporarily sold out Under-19s | Images from the national title win MenuFUNDADO EM 1894 E ONLINE DESDE 1996 Cidades Santos FC Porto Esportes Variedades Opinião Projetos Acervo Assinante Classificados Clube Grade da TV aberta Newsletter Publicidade Legal É proibida a reprodução do conteúdo em qualquer meio de comunicação Expediente Política de Privacidade Termos de Uso Publicidade Legal Anúncios Web Mídia Web The infamous slippery rock gulleys of Valongo saw over 100 riders lining up to finally conclude the first year of the new Troféu Nacional Hard Enduro series in Portugal With the overall champions still to be decided this was the closing round of the Portuguese extreme enduro championship Riders began out for the morning prologue ahead of a three-hour afternoon race ran over a 25 kilometres lap in the fantastic gulleys of the Serra de Valongo Mario Roman is no stranger to these rocks or an early season trip across the Iberian border to train for the Hard Enduro World Championship and keep the Portuguese fans happy Ni Esteves won the prologue in the Pro category but it was Roman who turned on the style in the main race as ever making the unbelievably slippery rocks looks like sand paper In the final tally of this inaugural THNE season (it replaced the former Portuguese Hard Enduro Series) the winner after four rounds was Tiago Oliveira with the multi-talented Diogo Vieira second and Ni Esteves third after his injury victory smiled for the third time this season to Emanuel Costa with Bruno Freitas rising the lowest place on the podium Emanuel Costa ends 2021 with a victory in the class with Bruno Freitas taking second place and Tiago Sousa third place respectively Álvaro Mouta won the 2T category in Valongo ahead of young Marco Ferreira in second and Jorge Araújo third Luís Gonçalves secured the class trophy with a total of three wins in four races Jorge Araújo secured second place ahead of Álvaro Mouta In the much less popular 4T class Nuno Pereira won in Valongo and secured second place in THEN but with second place Filipe Neves did not race in this fourth round however he guarantees the final third place José Ferreira took the victory in Valongo and ends the season undefeated with José Armindo in second place and Hugo Rodrigues third with Spaniards Anxo Ares and Alejandro Medina taking second and third place in Valongo respectively The conclusion of the 2021 season comes right on the doorstep of the new 2022 championship which will run six rounds this year beginning on February 27 at the Gondomar Extreme Create a personal Enduro21 account to access our new forum receive exclusive competitions and money saving offers Enduro21 is all about motorcycle enduro and off-road riding. Read more Donations to Enduro21 can make a huge difference to what we do Learn more We're on the lookout for writers, photographers, videographers and enduro enthusiasts, from all around the world. Read more © Enduro21 / Future7Media Limited. All rights reserved. This website uses cookies that are necessary to its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the privacy policy. By accepting this OR scrolling this page OR continuing to browse, you agree to our privacy policy. Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. Close to one million Africans were held at the dock before being sold on at nearby markets  I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice A dock in Brazil where close to a million slaves landed from Africa has been declared a Unesco world heritage site. Valongo Wharf, in Rio de Janeiro, was the largest arrival point for slaves in Brazil, the main destination for the trade in the Americas. Nicknamed “slave wharf”, as many as 900,000 Africans were held at the harbour to recover from their journeys across the Atlantic before being sold on at markets. Many did not survive and were buried in nearby mass graves. Unesco said the site was the “most important physical trace” of the devastating trade on the American continent and should have the same place in history as Hiroshima and Auschwitz "to make us remember those parts of the history of humanity that must not be forgotten". "It is a unique memorial, containing the last remaining vestiges of the slaves' arrival," anthropologist Milton Guran said. Many Brazilians were unaware of the area's importance until a few years ago when its remains were discovered during renovation work for the 2016 Olympic games. A mass grave, with bones and skulls, was uncovered. Archaeologists estimate that more than 6,000 enslaved Africans who died on the transatlantic passage were buried at the site, with 30,000 dumped in the surrounding area. The area that surrounds the historic dock is synonymous with the transatlantic slave trade. Praça XV de Novembro, a square beside the ferry terminal, was the site of Rio’s original slave auction and the Pedra do Sal is the historical centre of Rio’s “Little Africa”, where many former slaves settled. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Valongo is located in the North of Portugal District of Porto and is part of the Metropolitan Area of Porto (AMP) The name Valongo originated by the Latin words Vallis Longus (long valley) when the Romans settled in the region as they were attracted by the gold mining opportunities in the Serra de Santa Justa An area of 58.3% of the municipality is covered by forest, part of which is classified as a Natura 2000 Site and part as a Regional Protected Landscape Area Especially for these areas the Municipal Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change is in place This aims at increasing resilience to fire consolidating margins for flood and inundation abatement Valongo has a number of interesting projects underway or in development which are meant to demonstrate how the city can enhance its biodiversity whilst also benefiting the well-being of its citizens such as the FUTURO project and the Enhancement and Adaptation of the Ferreira and Sousa Rivers The city aims high when it comes to circular economy In addition to collecting door-to-door residual waste of households together with clothes Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and cooking oil the municipality of Valongo intends to extend this action up to 90% by 2030 and include paper The European Green Leaf jury highlighted the various ways the city is offering support to low-income citizens in the transition to sustainability as well as Valongo’s close collaboration with neighbouring cities to preserve the surrounding nature Valongo has presented itself as a credible green ambassador addressing and convincingly tackling a wide range of relevant environmental issues Last but not least, Valongo is planning to sign the EU Circular Cities Declaration One year as a European Green Leaf winner | A letter from the Mayor of Valongo EGLA Technical Assessment Report Award Cycle 2022 Jury Report – Award Cycle 2022 Video of Awards Ceremony Photos from Awards Ceremony Valongo 1-Year Report reopened in November after undergoing renovation work The restoration of the monument cost BRL 2 million and included the installation of educational signage A world cultural heritage site recognized by the United Nations Educational and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since 2017 the wharf was the main port for the disembarking of enslaved Africans in the Americas during the 18th and 19th centuries according to Brazil’s historical and artistic heritage authority Iphan The remains of the historical structure were discovered in 2011 during excavations for the project to revamp the city’s port district “This memory must be preserved as a port of our history and a beacon of change that needs to ensure black people are in control of their present and future trajectories—a path that goes further and further away from the vicious past of slavery,” said Racial Equality Minister Anielle Franco communications coordinator for the Pretos Novos Institute dedicated to preserving both tangible and intangible Afro-Brazilian heritage described the wharf as a landmark of a crime against humanity: the enslavement of millions of Africans in the Americas “People have to learn about the Valongo complex in order to understand what happened and all the crimes that were committed against Africans—crimes that are still committed against black people We need to get people to know this story if we are to mitigate all this structural racism our society was based upon.” Valongo Wharf is located in a region known as Pequena África (“Little Africa”) due to its majority black population and its history linked to the African diaspora with sites such as the Cemitério dos Pretos Novos (“Cemetery of the New Blacks”) a burial place for Africans who had recently landed in Valongo and died before being sold “It wasn’t just slave labor that came in through the whaf They also brought a new possibility of civilization through their culture which greatly mark Brazilian society today One cannot think of Brazil without capoeira babalaô and history professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and a member of the Wharf Management Committee Brazil’s social development bank BNDES also unveiled efforts to preserve and recognize African memory and heritage in Pequena África Among the measures is a technical cooperation agreement with various government bodies including Iphan and the ministries of Culture and Racial Equality aimed at drawing up a physical and spatial plan and to establish a cultural district in the area within three years Also announced was a consortium to issue a public notice to strengthen local cultural institutions build a network of representatives of African memory and heritage in Brazil and encourage the creation of a new tourist route linked to domestic and international Afro-tourism The consortium is made up of the Centre for the Articulation of Marginalized Populations (Ceap) and will be tasked with raising BRL 20 million—half of which will come from the BNDES Cultural Fund and the rest from donors the venue was deactivated in 1831 due to the ban on the transatlantic trade it was landfilled for the construction of a new pier to receive Princess Teresa Cristina and was renamed Cais da Imperatriz (“The Empress’s Pier”) Valongo Wharf was protected by Iphan in 2012 It became a Cultural Heritage Site of the City of Rio de Janeiro in 2013 and was named a World Heritage Site in July 2017 required by Unesco to monitor the efforts to preserve the archaeological site The committee was recreated in March of this year You must be logged in to post a comment CLICK HERE TO SEE FULL EDITIONS Join us for Vanguard Philadelphia! Application deadline extended This is your first of three free stories this month Become a free or sustaining member to read unlimited articles Sara Zewde received a curious email from a friend working on her doctorate in African-American history It pointed her to an article in a Brazilian newspaper about the discovery of an old slave port called the Valongo Wharf in Rio de Janeiro A U.S.-born urban planner then working in the Rio office of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy Zewde had just heard about the wharf from a colleague because of its location in the city’s port area where she was studying transportation plans “The historical significance of it was undoubtable,” Zewde says of the buried wharf where approximately one million enslaved Africans had entered the Americas An African-American whose parents emigrated from Ethiopia Zewde’s interest was personal and professional but at least four million enslaved Africans — 40 percent of the total transatlantic slave trade — were brought to Brazil before the country abolished the practice in 1888 becoming the last nation in the Americas to do so Valongo Wharf was the largest entry point for enslaved Africans in Brazil making it the most trafficked point of entry in the Americas and an “entirely unique historical marker,” says Elisa Larkin Nascimento director of the Institute of Afro-Brazilian Studies and Research Black activists had long sought to uncover the missing piece of history, but the reveal was thanks to workers digging to lay new sewer lines for the public-private partnership Porto Maravilha a play on Rio’s nickname as the “Marvelous City.” As the largest such partnership in Brazilian history Porto Maravilha is poised to transform a working-class former industrial area with a historic Afro-Brazilian population into a stylish district of luxury condo and office towers and starchitect-designed cultural destinations the activists pulled together to demand that Mayor Eduardo Paes memorialize the site as part of the redevelopment Zewde’s urban planning master’s thesis at MIT explored the idea of “black urbanism” in the context of New Orleans She had grown up in the South and had long been fascinated by how cultural dynamics came to be reflected in urban landscapes “When the Mayor said in response to the outcry of activists that he wanted the design for the wharf to represent the black experience Zewde left Rio to begin a landscape architecture program at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design (GSD) she realized that school could wait — while the opportunity to work on the Valongo Wharf would not She knocked out one semester of studies at the GSD before returning to Rio with a research grant to investigate further As Zewde got deeper into the city’s plans to memorialize the Valongo Wharf she found herself in an unexpected role: architect she had to turn theory into practice as she went from inquisitive student to lead designer for a memorial with huge implications for Rio Brazil and the broader global design community the remnants of the Valongo Wharf are modestly preserved in a placeholder arrangement Many of the surrounding 19th-century streets and buildings follow the contours of the old water line some already converted into chic event spaces A street bounds the exposed wharf on one side and a simple concrete paving job rings the other three The perfectly symmetrical cement squares contrast with the jagged edges of the Valongo’s ruins A few plaques offer a basic historical interpretation of the site as a major slave receiving port are the only public acknowledgment of slavery in Rio outside museum exhibits an obelisk commemorates the arrival of a bride for Emperor Dom Pedro II the last monarch to rule Brazil under whose rule slavery was abolished The remains of Valongo were found six feet under the street surface below four layers of paving dating back to 1843 when the wharf was first paved over in preparation for the welcoming of Brazil’s future empress “Each layer of paving in the cross-section has its own story,” Zewde says Those stories will gain another chapter with Porto Maravilha it is one of the crowded city’s least dense neighborhoods city officials hope to triple the population to 100,000 although Brazil’s current economic downturn has slowed real estate development from the delirious pace of just a few years ago On paper, at least 32 commercial projects, including a portside Trump Towers, are in the works. In 2013, CDURP, the agency managing the port’s redevelopment, demolished a three-mile-long elevated highway running through the area clearing the land for a boulevard with waterfront access international real estate giant Tishman Speyer built the district’s first new commercial building designed by British starchitect Norman Foster the company intends to open the neighborhood’s first new residential building The duo will join a sleek art museum that opened in 2013 a planned boutique hotel housed in a retrofitted grain silo and a Santiago Calatrava-designed science-themed Museum of Tomorrow that is slated to open by the end of the year is one of 32 new developments built or in the works in Rio’s port district With its glassy designer towers and big-name cultural amenities the new development will be a massive change for the area long a refuge for black Brazilian history and culture Home to Rio’s oldest favela and a historic Afro-Brazilian community the port area had managed to thrive under the recent era of benign neglect Crowds — locals and gringos alike — flock to Monday night samba sessions at the Pedra do Sal (Salt Rock) a portside landmark where longshoremen unloaded salt and played music in their off hours The black community that still lives there is descended from runaway slaves and is recognized for this lineage under Brazilian law “Brazilian society is proud of African derived food, music, and culture, but we don’t talk about racism in Brazil this has consequences…” says Washington Fajardo a special adviser to the Mayor on urban planning issues and the president of the Rio World Heritage Institute which would be one of the key entities charged with preserving the wharf the potential for a major African heritage site in the heart of a downtown redevelopment project carries a lot of symbolic weight for the movimento negro or “black movement,” as activists for Afro-Brazilian rights are known By the time Zewde returned to Rio under the auspices of her research grant movement activists had already successfully pressured Paes to designate the Valongo Wharf and other nearby sites of Afro-Brazilian memory as a formal historic district: the African Heritage Celebration Historical and Archaeological Circuit A working group of black leaders was convened to provide input on the circuit’s development Both developments signified progress for the movement “This was our first time being consulted on an urban redevelopment project,” say Dulce Vasconcello president of the Municipal Council in Defense of Black Rights and a member of the Mayor’s working group Zewde and Fajardo soon met to discuss Valongo She asked him if Rio’s leaders in city hall had any clear idea how designs for a memorial could reflect the Afro-Brazilian experience ‘we don’t know.’” He then turned the tables and asked she knew for certain she would return to Rio As jackhammers battered the weathered streets of the port district the ghosts of Valongo continued to haunt the 29-year-old designer she worked for Hood Design Studio in Oakland and tried to steer a contract to work on Valongo to the landscape architecture firm whose principal is one of the few African-Americans in the field But the site was not yet primed for an international design competition and taking work away from Brazilian firms was a political non-starter Zewde was nominated for the Olmsted Scholars Program the premier national award program for landscape architecture students named for the founding dean of the profession which came with a $25,000 prize and the imprimatur of the Landscape Architecture Foundation who up until that point had not found a way to hire her she boarded a plane for Rio during the hectic summer of 2014 While football madness took over the city and slowed Brazilian office productivity to a crawl “Washington’s office works really hard,” she says “There was a rush of energy and we worked plenty of weekends.” Already accustomed to pulling long hours at the GSD Zewde worked day and night during the feverish months of June and July she brought in the fruits of her Harvard research from the African continent’s history of urbanism when cities like Timbuktu were bigger than London to her ethnobotany investigations into what kinds of plants would have been familiar to enslaved Africans Zewde became known around the office as the de facto expert on all things Afro-Brazilian “It was weird to talk about Afro-Brazilian culture because I’m not Brazilian,” she explains “I hated the authority I had because I was American At the City Palace during a formal dinner to honor the TED Global conference that was in town “I was a young black woman — every level of being an outsider,” Zewde recalls of the event “I was the only black person in the room who was not a server.” But she also shrugged it off with a sad-but-true dig at her chosen profession she was presenting a design proposal at a meeting in Rio’s city hall convened by the Mayor’s office His representatives and those from the public-private partnership redeveloping the port were there as well as private developers with a stake in Porto Maravilha staffers from the federal agencies that safeguard black rights like the Office of Racial Equality Policies Zewde’s audience also included Milton Guran a Brazilian who serves on UNESCO’s International Scientific Committee and will help decide in the next year whether Valongo Wharf receives designation as a World Heritage Site (Key ports of slave embarkation in West Africa have long been recognized by UNESCO and have been boons to the tourism industry of Senegal and Ghana.) Zewde’s proposals for the site revolve around her question of how to shape a city in relationship to its history of slavery the archaeological site itself would be enhanced with shade trees site-specific illumination and street furniture the streets that lead to the site would represent the routes of the slave trade would create a cooler microclimate and white benches would invoke Afro-Brazilian rituals along a specially designed pedestrian pathway The design was roundly approved by the Mayor’s representatives and the black activists he had brought to the table came from Afro-Brazilian rituals and cultural practice she returns to an academic argument made in her GSD thesis which wove her work on Valongo into an exploration of the uses of the monument She argues that while the traditional monument commemorates a singular event or individual by placing an object in a space that is a break from its surroundings the 400-year practice of African enslavement demands a different approach you wake up every day with the legacy of slavery,” she says One approach is to translate cultural practices into spatial ones two hallmarks of Brazilian culture with strong African influences both traditionally operate in circular gatherings known as rodas Zewde incorporates patterns and shapes modeled after these gatherings Plants were another way to grapple with slavery’s living legacy When the Earth’s landmasses were all part of the supercontinent Pangaea what is now Brazil and Africa were joined at the hip Zewde’s proposal to plant vegetation that would have been familiar to enslaved Africans arriving on Rio’s shores is a gesture toward that human moment “Her ideas about seeds and vegetation here in Rio as a form of connecting with our African roots is really cool,” says Lelette Couto who sits on the African Heritage Circuit working group and is a member of Rio’s racial equality commission “It’s part of Sara’s innovation to have a more futuristic look at our roots.” Brazilian authorities consider African plants to be invasive and don’t allow them to be planted as part of public projects Fajardo has gone to bat for Zewde’s design arguing for a cultural exception to the rule “The idea of native plants is defined as when Europeans arrived,” Zewde says “It’s arbitrary in the evolution of plants.” Zewde’s design for the African Heritage Celebration Historical and Archaeological Circuit includes native African plants It took three years from the Valongo Wharf’s rediscovery until a design could be produced How long it will take to realize some version of Zewde’s vision is anyone’s guess The Mayor has asked the Rio World Heritage Institute and CDURP to prepare a viability study of the project but no firm timeline or budget has been set the black movement activists who were consulted in the euphoria of the design process are now registering their frustration about a lack of progress “My biggest criticism is in relation to City Hall,” says Vasconcello “It hasn’t taken ownership of the project.” “Our position is that we’re going to hold the city accountable [to its commitment],” Vasconcello continues “We will fight for it to get off the ground For us the most important thing is to have the history of our ancestors told at the physical point of arrival for enslaved Africans.” A spokesman for the Mayor declined to specify which agency would be directly responsible for the creation of the Circuit and outside of City Hall Fajardo maintains that it is CDURP’s responsibility and CDURP says that its only mandate is to redevelop the port area and use Zewde’s proposal “insofar as it is possible to reconcile” it with the other development on the site CDURP claims that the viability study is underway and that the agency will eventually pay for the memorial’s implementation with money generated from the sale of air rights in the area wrote in an email that the agency has already used some money raised from the sale of air rights to pay for activities related to the Circuit including preparation of the UNESCO dossier an annual ceremony for the black community to “wash” the wharf’s stones cataloguing of archaeological material from the site CDURP has also provided financial support for the Pedra do Sal community and a museum that houses a slave cemetery it continues to upgrade infrastructure in the Porto Maravilha footprint including in areas earmarked for Zewde’s Afrocentric design interventions “There was a lost opportunity at the Praça dos Estivadores which could have incorporated this design,” Fajardo says The Praça dos Estivadores (Longshoremen’s Square) is one of the sites formally listed as part of the Circuit in the city’s municipal decree Like many public spaces in this palimpsest neighborhood or Deposit Square — to mark the fattening houses for slaves recently arrived at the Valongo Wharf The goal was to make them strong enough for fieldwork after surviving the transatlantic crossing Fajardo remains optimistic despite this setback already looking ahead to the as-yet-unimproved Avenida Barão de Tefé where the Valongo Wharf itself is located and for which Zewde prepared the most elaborate designs of the project He calls the street “contextually very important” for the integrity of the Circuit design proposal CDURP says that the Avenida Barão de Tefé’s design is already complete and doesn’t take into account Zewde’s design “It will be reviewed in order to analyze the possibility of incorporating the proposed elements in accordance with the viability and general timeline of the construction,” a spokesperson wrote in an email Zewde’s sense that continuity with the past empowers the future is no doubt influencing the process “The most important thing is to look back at the past because we still have a lot of work to do,” says Couto who continues to advocate for the project at City Hall One of Brazil’s recurring mottos is “country of the future,” a phrase that mostly generates eye rolling these days especially among young Brazilians jaded in the current economic and political climate Rio has been somewhat insulated from the ongoing economic downturn there are many stumbling blocks on the road to Olympic glory uncovering the Valongo Wharf was one of them — a major archaeological find that surely slowed down the port’s transformation into a new commercial district something similar happened in Lower Manhattan when a groundbreaking for a federal office building uncovered a historic African cemetery Now a monument maintained by the National Park Service it took considerable activism on the part of black leaders to preserve the site a sliver of a larger 6.6-acre burial ground The attention ultimately galvanized a revisionist history of New York City’s direct participation in the slave trade from scholarly research to a landmark exhibit at the New York Historical Society the black slab monument wedged in the shadow of Manhattan skyscrapers is easily overlooked in downtown’s concrete jungle Zewde’s proposal for Rio — to make African heritage a centerpiece of the revitalized downtown district — is infinitely bolder Having pioneered a new design approach to monuments Zewde has drawn comparisons with Maya Lin from Anita Berrizbeitia the chair of the GSD’s landscape architecture program and Zewde’s adviser Zewde in the Seattle office of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol Zewde is already thinking about the long game Paes leaves office after the Olympics next year but the port redevelopment will continue for another decade-plus “The history of this site has evolved over a few hundred years what makes me think five years is going to change it,” she says I think pieces of the design will be implemented The project requires a lot of coordination between various political actors and entities Zewde is now following developments in Rio while working full-time for Gustafson Guthrie Nichol in Seattle Even if her day job keeps her from dedicating her time exclusively to Valongo the project’s teachings are by now inscribed in her DNA as a designer “This approach is my life’s work,” she says In October, Zewde spoke about her Rio project at the GSD’s inaugural Black in Design Conference, a sold-out affair that made public a conversation Zewde and her community had been having on their own for years When an audience member asked her about the very outsider status that made her an unexpected authority in Rio “My design process is about re-establishing trust with black communities because the system has failed them so many times before.” Our features are made possible with generous support from The Ford Foundation Gregory Scruggs is a Seattle-based independent journalist who writes about solutions for cities He has covered major international forums on urbanization and sustainable development where he has interviewed dozens of mayors and high-ranking officials in order to tell powerful stories about humanity’s urban future He has reported at street level from more than two dozen countries on solutions to hot-button issues facing cities from housing to transportation to civic engagement to social equity he won a United Nations Correspondents Association award for his coverage of global urbanization and the UN’s Habitat III summit on the future of cities He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners View all → and support the spread of solutions that liberate cities Become a free or sustaining member to continue reading Or you can join for free—because we never want to create a financial barrier to information about fostering greater equity U.S. donations are tax-deductible minus the value of thank-you gifts. Questions? Learn more about our membership options Free gifts cannot be shipped to locations outside of the United States All members are automatically signed-up to our email newsletter You can unsubscribe with one-click at any time reveal a fundamental part of Rio and Brazil history (and indeed that of humankind itself) slavery left its mark; this site was South America’s largest slave port at which it’s estimated that between a half-million to a million captured Africans were unloaded from ships and sold as slaves Buried in 1843 to make way for a different wharf this blot on history was hidden (at least for a time) but came to light once more as the neighborhood was being fixed up for the Olympics It was named a World Heritage Site in 2017 and merits a visit if only to recognize and atone for the tragedy it represents Information on this page, including website, location, and opening hours, is subject to have changed since this page was last published. If you would like to report anything that’s inaccurate, let us know at notification@afar.com. AFAR participates in affiliate marketing programs which means we may earn a commission if you purchase an item featured on our site.© 2025 AFAR LLC This final round of the 2022 Portuguese Hard Enduro series in Valongo saw a relatively short course (for this series) of 10 kilometres spanning around the main paddock area making it a great race for fans to view the different sections And there was plenty for the riders to overcome with a fairly epic rock garden some slick hills and concrete steps that attracted the most attention The victory in the Pro category at this last round went to Ni Esteves who closed his season with the golden ticket ahead of Jose Borges with the championship victor Oliveira only managing fifth place Tiago Sousa won the Experts guaranteeing the victory in the overall points as did Daniel Branco in the Open and Roberto de Matos The Hobby class – where the highest number of riders entered – was also won by Spaniard José Manuel Lopez This brings an end to the 2022 TNHE season and six rounds throughout the year with fantastic scenery and landscapes to ride in and a large participation by both Portuguese and Spanish riders proving the popularity of the sport on both sides of the border More info on the Portuguese Hard Enduro series: www.meliciasteam.com This website uses cookies that are necessary to its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the privacy policy By accepting this OR scrolling this page OR continuing to browse bustling harbour where hundreds of thousands of Africans were sold into a life of exploitation and abuse Famished, exhausted and with their heads half-shaved, the slaves were herded off ships, groomed in "fattening houses" and dispatched to sugar and coffee plantations across Brazil nearly two centuries after Rio's notorious Valongo wharf began operating local archaeologists believe they may have located the slave port's ruins during a multibillion-dollar pre-Olympic renovation of the city's harbour "As soon as the discovery was made I went there," said Washington Fajardo seeing an existing city and then another city two metres below The possible discovery of the Cais do Valongo was made during the regeneration of Rio's port area With the 2016 Olympics in mind, authorities are steaming ahead with a project known as Porto Maravilha or Marvellous Port intended to transform Rio's dilapidated port into a vibrant tourist and business hub an archaeologist from Rio's National Museum who has been leading the hunt for the Valongo said 10 local archaeologists had been digging since February and now believed they had started unearthing "structures" connected to the notorious slave market Her team has confirmed discovery of Rio's Empress's wharf believed to have been built on top of the slave port in the 1840s by the French architect Grandjean de Montigny and designed to welcome Brazil's future empress Lima said the Valongo represented a crucial part of the city's history that had been erased as Brazil sought to cover up the "brutal period of enslavement" It is believed that some 3 million African slaves were shipped to Brazil between 1550 and 1888 "This area played an important role in Rio's history – the Valongo wharf area has a strong symbolism for Afro-Brazilian descendants in our city," Lima added Historians say the Valongo slave market operated from 1818 to 1830 women and children from across west Africa were shipped into the port on squalid ships The British clergyman Robert Walsh detailed the horrors of Valongo wharf following a visit in 1828. "The poor creatures are exposed for sale like any other commodity," he wrote in Notices of Brazil in 1828 and 1829, describing how slave buyers would manhandle the slaves as if "buying a dog or mule". "They were all doomed to remain on the spot, like sheep in a pen, till they were sold; they have no apartment to retire to, no bed to repose on, no covering to protect them; they sit naked all day, and lie naked all night, on the bare boards, or benches, where we saw them exhibited." In another section Walsh, then chaplain at the British embassy, recalls: "The miserable slaves of Rio, employed only as beasts of burden in the streets, are, of all classes of the human race, by far the most abandoned and degraded." Maria Graham, a British writer who also visited the Valongo, described "rows of young creatures … sitting, their heads shaved, their bodies emaciated, and the marks of recent itch upon their skins. "If I could, I would appeal to their masters, to those who buy, and to those who sell, and implore them to think of the evils slavery brings." Lima hopes her team will be able to officially confirm the Valongo's discovery "over the coming months". Fajardo, the heritage secretary, said the authorities planned to integrate the finds into the new port's design. In the lead-up to the Olympics, changes to Rio de Janeiro's urban landscape were likely to reveal further archaeological sites, he added. "We have high hopes," he said. Rio's mayor, Eduardo Paes, vowed to build a square where the 19th century ports once stood. "These are our Roman ruins," he said. Plans are moving ahead for a new museum at a wharf that is the “most important physical evidence associated with the historic arrival of enslaved Africans on the South American continent”, according to Unesco. Valongo Wharf in Rio de Janeiro, where nearly one million captive Africans disembarked between 1811 and 1831, was uncovered in 2011 during preparations for the 2016 Olympics, and became a Unesco World Heritage site in 2017. Rio’s prefecture and Brazil’s National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan) subsequently announced it would build an educational museum dedicated to the site. On 31 December, the federal public ministry issued a statement ordering Citizenship Action to vacate within 30 days. A Unesco spokesman also refutes the de-listing threat: “Delisting sites is very much like saying that we give up on it, and we don’t do that. But management of the site is entirely the responsibility of national authorities, who have very different policies regarding heritage.” Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site - front view © Milton Guran Plans for the centre exhibits have yet to be announced. Nilcemar Nogueira, Rio de Janeiro’s secretary of culture, has suggested that the existing Museum of Afro-Brazilian History and Culture, housed in a provisional space nearby, could move into the Docas Dom Pedro II and function as one institution with the centre. But relocating this museum, which drew criticism from Afro-Brazilian organisations for stretching the federal budget when it launched in 2017, could accrue further costs. Ana Maria de la Merced Guimarães, the director of the Rio-based Pretos Novos Institute for Research and Memory, feels that the government “should invest in existing local institutions… Having a thematic museum is important, but it’s not very clear what some of these institutions will even do, or whether they will help or compete with our projects.” It remains unclear whether Jair Bolsonaro’s new government will have an impact on the museum and other cultural projects. Last month, the far-right Brazilian president dissolved the ministry of culture, which runs the Palmares Cultural Foundation, combining it with the sport and social development ministries into a new ministry of citizenship. Osmar Terra, the former minister of social development who is leading the new ministry, has no background managing cultural institutions. where one million enslaved Africans disembarked news24 September 2019Rio de Janeiro’s Unesco-listed slave wharf receives nearly $2m for renovationArchaeologists have uncovered more than one million objects on the site The World Heritage Centre is at the forefront of the international community’s efforts to protect and preserve World Heritage partnerships for conservation Ensuring that World Heritage sites sustain their outstanding universal value is an increasingly challenging mission in today’s complex world where sites are vulnerable to the effects of uncontrolled urban development Our Partners Donate Take advantage of the search to browse through the World Heritage Centre information this afternoon ended the inscription of sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List with the final addition of three cultural sites in Brazil and the approval of the extensions of Strasbourg: from Grande-île to Neustadt a European urban scene (France) and The Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar Aphrodisias (Turkey) the site consists of two components: the archaeological site of Aphrodisias and the marble quarries northeast of the city The temple of Aphrodite dates from the 3rd century BCE and the city was built one century later The wealth of Aphrodisias came from the marble quarries and the art produced by its sculptors The city streets are arranged around several large civic structures The English Lake District (United Kingdon) the English Lake District is a mountainous area whose valleys have been modelled by glaciers in the Ice Age and subsequently shaped by an agro-pastoral land-use system characterized by fields enclosed by walls The combined work of nature and human activity has produced a harmonious landscape in which the mountains are mirrored in the lakes gardens and parks have been purposely created to enhance the beauty of this landscape This landscape was greatly appreciated from the 18th century onwards by the Picturesque and later Romantic movements It also inspired an awareness of the importance of beautiful landscapes and triggered early efforts to preserve them Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site (Brazil) Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site is located in central Rio de Janeiro and encompasses the entirety of Jornal do Comércio Square It is in the former harbour area of Rio de Janeiro in which the old stone wharf was built for the landing of enslaved Africans reaching the South American continent from 1811 onwards An estimated 900,000 Africans arrived in South America via Valongo The physical site is composed of several archaeological layers the lowest of which consists of floor pavings in pé de moleque style It is the most important physical trace of the arrival of African slaves on the American continent Strasbourg: from Grande-île to Neustadt, a European urban scene [extension of the property “Strasbourg – Grande Ile”] (France) inscribed in 1988 on the World Heritage List designed and built under the German administration (1871-1918) The Neustadt draws the inspiration for its urban layout from the Haussmannian model while adopting a Germanic architectural idiom for its edifices This dual influence has enabled the creation of an urban space that is specific to Strasbourg where the perspectives created around the cathedral open to a unified landscape around the rivers and canals The Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau [Extension of the property “The Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar and Dessau”] (Germany) which was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1996 originally comprised the groups of buildings and monuments located in Weimar and Dessau all built under the direction of Walter Gropius The extension of the property includes the Houses with Balcony Access in Dessau – three storey brick blocks for low-income students – and the ADGB Trade Union School in Bernau built under the direction of Hannes Meyer This extension reflects the contribution of the department of architecture to the austere design functionalism and social reform of the Bauhaus a movement which was to revolutionise architectural thinking and practice in the 20th century The 41st session of the World Heritage Committee (9-12 July) founder and director of the International Cultural Centre in Kraków Lucía Iglesias Kuntz, UNESCO, l.iglesias@unesco.org Agnès Bardon, UNESCO, a.bardon@unesco.org Follow us Twitter: @UNESCOFacebook: @UNESCO#WorldHeritage | Copyright 2025 FIM Europe | Terms of use - Privacy statement | houses and other abandoned buildings pique the curiosity of the 'bravest' there are places that are considered 'haunted' even away from the big screen this is our list of ‘haunted’ and/or scary places About half an hour’s drive from Invicta this is probably one of the most famous ‘haunted’ places near Porto The Valongo Sanatorium (as the Mont’alto Sanatorium came to be known) is located in the parish of São Pedro da Cova the sanatorium remained active between the 50s and 70s Tuberculosis patients were often housed here there were reports of mistreatment and neglect it is said that the building once had around 350 patients at the same time vandalized and damaged by subsequent fires The name alone makes it sound like a ‘scary’ place, right? Located less than an hour’s drive from Porto, this abandoned house is in Felgueiras, according to other media, more specifically in the Moure area. Known as the ‘House of the Devil’, this is another of the ‘haunted’ places that could serve as a setting for horror fiction. According to the associated urban legends, a childless couple once lived in this building, the husband was a farmer and lived off the land, while the wife did embroidery for the outside. It is said that they lived alone, but that unexplained phenomena often occurred in one of the rooms of the house. For example, there were reports of objects flying or furniture moving on its own. One day, the woman left some of her work neatly folded and ironed in the aforementioned room. However, what she found was a very different scene, with the embroidery all messed up and covered in urine. It is said that the couple ended up leaving the house forever, and it has since become known as the ‘Devil’s House’. Furthermore, even today, there are allegedly reports of unusual noises and sightings of a mysterious man on the balcony. Of the various stories mentioned here, this is certainly one of the most macabre legends of all. Belonging to the municipality of Penafiel, it is said that D. Luís de Lencastre Carneiro de Vasconcelos, Baron of Lages, and his wife, Inês , once lived at Quinta da Juncosa. A heinous crime is said to have taken place in this once manor house . According to the accounts, the baron was a jealous man, so when he thought that his wife had betrayed him, he murdered her. However, he did it in an unspeakable way. In other words, the baron tied his wife to a horse and dragged her around the farm until she died. When he realized what he had done, the baron killed his children and committed suicide. Since then, it’s been speculated that his spirit has wandered around Quinta da Juncosa forever! View this post on Instagram Casa do Relógio do Sol Located in one of the most ‘privileged’ areas of the city of Porto is mentioned in several articles on the subject of “haunted places” Built at the beginning of the 20th century namely artillery captain Artur Jorge Guimarães it is said that his children clashed over inheritance This led to the building being abandoned and it is said to have been clandestinely occupied by a shoemaker who stole all the contents and damaged the property the rightful owners and heirs entered into litigation with the occupant and the case allegedly went to court without a solution Against a backdrop of conflicts and unresolved issues but here’s another story worthy of Halloween This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Excavations in the port area of the city of Rio de Janeiro reveal hitherto ill-known aspects of slavery Reproduction of the book "Debret e o Brazil – Obra Completa" 2009One of the “meat shops” of the Valongo market in the somewhat optimistic view of Debret as he showed only a few slaves overseen by the tradesmanSlave market on Rua do Valongo street The National Institute of Criminalistics establishes a series of procedures for investigating a crime: recognition which puts boundaries on the scene of the crime and preserves it; careful documentation and scientific observation of the site; the search for proof and evidence to be collected; and scientific analysis in a laboratory of the evidence gathered by the expert investigators It is at the point where these areas overlap that the solution of a murder Would it be possible to use the same procedures to “clarify” a centuries-old crime Recent research conducted by Brazilian universities indicates that using the same cross-discipline methods geneticist (paleogeneticists) and pathologists might finally and properly cover one of the greatest crimes ever: slavery “To understand the reality of slavery unearth the past and submit the material evidence to laboratory analysts One must overcome the mere historiography of documents or the economic views that only considers slavery from the point of view of the means of production Slavery has to be made material,” says Tânia Andrade Lima an archeologist from the Nacional Museum in Rio de Janeiro and the coordinator of the Valongo quay excavation project at the port that one million Africans passed through between 1811 and 1831 It was the work on the Porto Maravilha port with a view to revitalizing the area for the 2016 Olympics that enabled the archeologists to reopen the “scene of crime,” unseen since 1843 when it was covered with 60 centimeters of surface material and turned into the Imperatriz [Empress] quay but Valongo was chosen to delete the stains of past slavery,” says Tania These “stains” surrounded the entire quay Nearby houses stored and marketed the blacks Those who became ill were taken to the neighboring lazaretto where treatment boiled down to bleeding conducted by black barbers .Those who did not survive were buried with total disregard in mass graves a few meters away from the quay loads of personal and ritual objects of the so-called “new blacks,” the captives newly-arrived from Africa: large and small beads and even “sitting-stones for the orixás,” the African gods Priests and African religion and culture experts are helping to catalogue and recognize the findings “The Valongo complex was instituted to remove the blacks from downtown Rio de Janeiro as they were considered a threat to health ‘disease carriers’ and a public order risk,” explains the historian Cláudio Honorato author of the study Valongo: o mercado de escravos do Rio de Janeiro [Valongo: the Rio de Janeiro slave market] (Fluminense Federal University/ UFF “Valongo was part of the ‘national civilization’ project which gained strength when Rio became the capital of the Empire this turned out to be a paradox: the creation of a ‘European’ court but with mobs of blacks moving freely on the streets It was thought that the solution would be to use the slaves to create a city worthy of the king making it impossible for the city to get rid of its ‘backward features’ It was necessary to somewhat reduce such promiscuity so the slave market was moved away from the Palace area to a distant and uninhabited place: Valongo a natural port in the Gamboa area,” built by order of the viceroy the slave trade attracted the local population and the site turned into one of Rio’s liveliest places the Valongo complex included 50 “meat houses,” where the newly arrived blacks were traded “The first one we went into had 300 children The eldest may have been 12 years old and the youngest The poor little things were crouching in a warehouse The smell and the heat in the room were repugnant The thermometer indicated 33º C and it was winter!” wrote Charles Brand After spending 60 days on a tumbeiro [slave ship] combined with the punishments inflicted upon them led them to become prone to catching the viruses bacteria and parasites that flourished among the dense population of Rio More than 4% of the slaves died almost immediately upon arrival A place was needed to bury a large number of dead And so the Pretos Novos (New Blacks) Cemetery came into being “The high mortality rate would explain the rise of imported labor as more deaths meant bringing in more slaves there were more than one thousand burials a year in it,” states the historian Júlio César Pereira author of À flor da terra [Near the ground surface](Garamond The relocation of the court to Rio increased the arrival of captives via the port of Rio: if in 1807 fewer than 10 thousand had been brought in by 1828 this figure had risen to 45 thousand This year was also a record one for the cemetery more than 2 thousand new blacks having been buried there “With no coffin and not a scrap of clothing they are thrown into a grave that isn’t even two feet deep They take the deceased and chuck him into the hole like a dead dog then they throw a bit of earth over and if any part of the body remains uncovered blood and excrements,” described the traveler Carl Seidler in 1834 the site was aligned with the thinking and the rules that had led to the establishment of the complex: “Unsold slaves won’t leave Valongo even after they’re dead.” Estimates indicate that the cemetery received more than 20 thousand bodies before it was closed down in 1830 who feared the “miasmas” coming from the cadavers “near the surface of the ground,” along with the interruption of slave traffic The place fell into oblivion and was eventually covered over by the city which expanded in the port areas in the late nineteenth century It was only rediscovered in 1996 during the remodeling of a house when workers drilling the holes for piles came upon thousands of teeth and human bone fragments As in a “crime scene,” it became necessary to find out who the victims were Determining the geographic origin of the five million slaves forced into coming to Brazil is crucial for several fields of knowledge as it provides clues on the genetic and cultural background of Brazilians “The slave trade caused one of the mankind’s greatest population movements Between the sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries more than 10.7 million arrived alive at the end of the crossing,” states the historian Manolo Florentino author of Em costas negras [On black coasts] (Companhia das Letras “The slave ships’ records are unreliable when it comes to the origin of the Africans didn’t always reflect the geographical origin of the blacks kilometers away from the coast,” he notes Pretos Novos InstituteDental arcade recovered at the cemetery showing the ritual incisions made in teeth by AfricansPretos Novos Institute In this task, geneticists provide the historians with major contributions, as shown in the article “Africa in the genes of the Brazilian People” (Pesquisa FAPESP on the research of geneticist Sérgio Danilo Pena from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) who compared the pattern of genetic alterations shared by Africans and Brazilians Pena helped to review the historical version according to which most of the slaves came from the central-western part of Africa This notion disregarded the relevant participation of the west African blacks “That is why it is essential to resort to transdiciplinarity to understand slavery Each focus is limited in dealing with the questions and no single field of knowledge is sufficient The genetic studies are highly informative but their starting point is the analysis of Brazilians who descend from slaves,” says Pena Hence the importance of the Pretos Novos Cemetery as it contains primarily the remains of African slaves that had just arrived in Brazil enable us to state that 95% of the bodies were of “new blacks” (the other 5% were apparently of Ladino slaves) This unique site gave rise to the recently completed bio-archeological study Por uma antropologia biológica do tráfico de escravos africanos para o Brasil: análise das origens dos remanescentes esqueletais do Cemitério dos Pretos Novos [For a biological anthropology of the traffic of African slaves into Brazil: an analysis of the origins of the skeletal remains of the Pretos Novos Cemetery] coordinated by the bio-anthropologist Ricardo Ventura Santos from the National School of Public Health of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Ensp/Fiocruz) the isotopic composition of the strontium in the tooth enamel of the samples collected in 1996 was analyzed to determine the geographic origin of the remains “The teeth are formed during childhood and are not renovated allowing us to find out where people lived during their early years Strontium is like a geochemical DNA and it exists in the form of two isotopes The ratio between them are geochemical signatures tied to the characteristics of the rocks of a given region,” explains Sheila de Souza The research revealed a great diversity of ratios which indicates (and confirms) that the slaves brought to Rio came from several African regions The researchers established this as a result of finding “deliberate modifications of the teeth,” cuts made in the dental arcade for cultural reasons and that are typical of certain African regions “We also witnessed the polishing of teeth typical of the dental hygiene of the African groups that used small sticks on their teeth and chewed plants as ‘toothpaste’ This practice is limited to the new blacks The teeth of the Ladinos lack these marks,” says Sheila The variability of the strontium ratios observed contrasts with what has been found in other slave cemeteries in the Americas than what was measured in the Africans buried at the New York Burial Ground the American slave cemetery found in Manhattan in 1991 “Contrary to North America and other areas of Brazil Rio de Janeiro received a larger number of captives with a greater ethnical and genetic diversity,” states Santos One can identify that the basic food of these individuals during their childhood contained no form of seafood The arrival of the royal family increased the demand for slaves culminating in the golden phase of slave traffic which legitimated a de facto situation: the Crown no longer had a monopoly which resulted in free access to the trade few parts of the continent remained immune to the traffickers Rio actually received blacks from many African regions according to records,” notes Florentino indicating action from the coast to the inner continent in search of those who had migrated from the seaside.” One can even demonstrate the undocumented path of illegality Portugal and England signed a treatise whereby the purchase of slaves and slave traffic north of the Equator was prohibited “The research studies of Pena and Santos show that where they would get slaves that they would then record as Angolan,” says the historian The analysis of the cemetery also revealed an ill-known aspect of the slave traffic: the youth of the captives “The remains are of very young blacks,” says Santos Some 780 thousand children were enslaved and sent to Brazil as of the mid-nineteenth century because they were more “malleable” than adults were and they withstood the crossing better sensing that slave traffic was coming to an end who would work for longer after the traffic came to a halt,” explains Florentino New excavations in the cemetery corroborated this practice It was evidenced by the presence of the young people’s skulls and arcades The prospections were resumed by the team of Tania Lima fearing the real estate speculation around the site in charge of drawing up a map of the cemetery for the study O Cemitério dos Pretos Novos: delimitação especial [The Cemetery of the New Blacks: special boundaries] The dimensions of the cemetery are unknown According to descriptions dating back to when it was active its size was similar to a present-day soccer pitch The archeologist is suspicious of this measurement since it seems too small for so many bodies “You don’t have to dig more than 70 centimeters deep to find bodily remains,” he says The place was a mass grave where bodies were thrown after days piled up in a corner it would be reopened and the remains incinerated and destroyed “We also find urban waste mixed in with the bones: food The initial thesis was that the cemetery had become the neighborhood’s open dumping ground once the cemetery was closed the excavations indicate that it was still operating when the trash was thrown in with the bodies.” Genetics only add to the symbolic weight of such disregard “The slaves entered Brazil via the Northeast or Rio The very geographical closeness led slaves from West Africa to the Northeast and those from Central Africa to Rio this is the ethnic group whose bodies presumably fill the cemetery they could see how their dead were treated undignified burial makes it impossible for the dead and their forbears to be reunited One can imagine that they must have felt condemned to a ‘second death,’ being aware that their final resting place would be erased from memory,” observes Júlio César did not enjoy very good chances either: only one third of the new blacks would live The cause of these early deaths was the large range of diseases with which the slaves lived as shown in the paleogenetic research of Alena Mayo from the Fiocruz Laboratory of Molecular Genetics of Microorganisms the bones revealed that 7 out of every 10 captives were infected with protozoa or helminths “This was due to the slaves being very poorly fed combined with the bad conditions of hygiene in which they lived,” says Alena The genetic discovery proves several aspects of the classic study of the American historian Mary Karasch A vida dos escravos no Rio de Janeiro [Slave Life in Rio de Janeiro] (Companhia das Letras such as the statement that “the conditions under which the slaves lived and the diseases killed more than the physical violence of captivity.” The researcher studied the Pretos Novos cemetery “The inhuman conditions in which they were transported caused those slaves who were susceptible to contract the disease upon arriving.” This also leads one back to the documental research conducted by the American: “The mortality of the newly arrived Africans at Valongo was not related only to the terrible conditions of the slave ships they faced a greater challenge at the quay: adapting to the new and terrible conditions of life so as not to succumb promptly to Rio diseases.” One particular excavation resulted in important findings “Bones in the church of Nossa Senhora do Carmo in Rio found in seventeenth century tombs of people of European origin tested positive for tuberculosis in 7 out of 10 ribs analyzed,” states Alena the researchers also found bones of native Indians and blacks the researcher concluded that not only was tuberculoses rampant in the city in the seventeenth century but that the colonizers were the party responsible for introducing the disease in Rio given that only the Europeans tested positive for tuberculosis “In studies I conducted on pre-Columbian material I found intestinal helminthiasis and Chagas’ disease We concluded that these were not brought by the Europeans one can see the role of Europeans in the introduction and dissemination of epidemic diseases such as tuberculosis.” Therefore the fear of the “diseases of the negroes,” which led to the creation There is no perfect crime when different fields of knowledge come together Scientific article JAEGER, L. H. et al. Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex detection in human remains: tuberculosis spread since the 17th century in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil © Revista Pesquisa FAPESP - All rights reserved where the largest number of slaves imported to the Americas disembarked a place of suffering long buried under the paving stones of this dazzling city More than 600,000 slaves passed through in the early 19th century much as the "cemetery of new blacks": new because they had just arrived precious stones and personal items has been unearthed Work on the wharf has also revealed the scale of the slave trade in Brazil Of the 9.5 million people captured in Africa and brought to the New World between the 16th and 19th century 10 times more than all those sent to the United States But for the last century Brazil has tried to forget its past refusing to accept the legacy of the slave trade It has sought to project the image of a country of mixed descent where the colour of a person's skin does not count a land unfettered by racism where cordial relations reign between citizens of Indian a term coined by the sociologist and writer Gilberto Freyre Black movements tend to refer to "institutionalised racism" which condemns discrimination and the persistence of a slave-based mindset According to census results published in 2011 by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) brancos (whites) account for less than half the population for the first time since the 19th century Approximately 51% see themselves as preto (black The statistics also show that Brazilians of colour are at a significant disadvantage compared with their white counterparts Racial inequality is manifest in many respects Two-thirds of the poor are pretos or pardos coloured people earn half as much as whites A black woman only earns a quarter of the salary paid to a white male coloured people only account for 3.5% of executives he recalls two occasions when white men handed him their car keys as he entered a fashionable restaurant in Rio "things are slowly changing and awareness is growing." In a sensational decision this April the 10 supreme court judges unanimously ruled in favour of positive discrimination in higher education declaring that the racial quotas in Brazilian universities were constitutional and redressed the "social debt of slavery" Dozens of expert witnesses were heard and the ruling was televised live In August the senate passed a bill requiring federal universities to reserve half their places for students from state schools Rousseff has signed the whole text into law; universities have till 2015 to comply In practice the law mixes social and racial criteria It sets aside a quarter of all places in federal universities for students from families with an income less than or equal to one and a half times the minimum wage ($460) The other quarter will be allocated to students according to their self-declared skin colour According to the daily O Globo the law will more than double the number of affirmative-action places in Rio's four federal universities They currently set aside 5,400 places for social quotas but under the new arrangements their number will rise to 12,350 Opponents of the quota system have condemned the "racialisation" of Brazil rooted in an increasingly ethnic approach to social affairs Above all the ensuing debate seems to have put an end to the myth of racial democracy A major change is apparently underway in what the sociologist Alberto Guerreiro Ramos called "the most racist country in the world" during the military dictatorship in the 1980s a view endorsed by most of the experts Le Monde talked to "The quotas are the only alternative to the mechanisms of concealment and social exclusion set up since the end of slavery," says Spiritos Santos the author of a lively blog on racial issues "This new phase is a revolution for Brazil," says David Raimundo dos Santos, a Franciscan friar who heads Educafro an NGO that campaigns to gain access to education for coloured people "Brazil is waking up and can now claim to have found a method for integration," he adds Since independence in 1822, the Brazilian elite has sought to deny the nation's African roots. "In an effort to glorify the past, while making no concessions to the Portuguese, the elite started by promoting the Indians, the original masters of the land and no threat to the slave-makers," says the historian Richard Marin. Blacks were sidelined. Even the abolitionist writer Ruy Barbosa de Oliveirato authorised much of the government records of slavery to be destroyed in 1890 When slavery was finally abolished the former captives were left to fend for themselves who established 4,000 schools for former slaves the enfranchised blacks were condemned to misery," according to historian Alain Rouquié "The long-awaited abolition ultimately entrenched inequality." Prior to the financial crisis of 1929 the boom in coffee production attracted 4 million immigrants from Europe with little concern for the country's colonial past On the grounds that this young and prosperous nation could not flourish with a largely black population European immigration was encouraged in order to "whiten" Brazil He made no distinction between the three main ethnic groups – Africans This concept, which contrasted with the north American segregationist model, proved very popular in Brazil, boosting the legitimacy of the authoritarian Estado Novo regime, in power during the second world war. Half-white, half-black Nossa Senhora da Conceiçao Aparecida became the country's patron saint But there was a big gap between the supposed racial democracy and the actual condition of many Afro-Brazilians Concealed by the absence of legal segregation and the warmth of social intercourse this "cordial racism" was denied The debate on quotas started in the 1990s under President Fernando Henrique Cardoso He set up working groups to discuss public action to promote the black community and made it compulsory for official documents to indicate skin colour In 2002 Bahia State University introduced racial quotas gradually followed by about 60 other establishments the explicit goal of racial quotas was to compensate for the racial discrimination endured by blacks After 10 years of debate and experiment the ruling by the supreme court endorses this approach The streets of the Valongo neighbourhood have just been paved over and re-opened to traffic This evening the first episode of a telenovela (soap) Lado a Lado (side by side) will be broadcast It is the story of a black community after the abolition of slavery "It is an exciting and as yet little known period," said the lead actor This article appeared in Guardian Weekly