Passeio Público

This is the oldest public park in Rio and one of the oldest in the Americas, laid out in the 1780s during the colonial period. Designed by the artist Mestre Valentim, it features tree-lined avenues, ponds, sculptures and a decorative entrance gate that once faced the sea before land reclamation pushed the shoreline back. A pyramid fountain and cast-iron details survive from later nineteenth-century remodelling. Shaded by mature figs and palms, the garden offers a quiet historic retreat in the busy Lapa district near the aqueduct.