Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site

Beneath Jornal do Comércio Square in Rio de Janeiro's old harbour district lie the stones of Valongo Wharf, the landing place where an estimated 900,000 enslaved Africans first set foot on South American soil after 1811. Digs have exposed the wharf's rough pé de moleque paving beneath later layers of city building. UNESCO inscribed the archaeological site in 2017, recognizing it as the most powerful surviving physical witness to the arrival of enslaved Africans in the Americas.