Carioca River
Seen from the little bridge.
Fulviusbsas — Public domain · Fulviusbsas — Public domain · J. Nicolas K. Y. — CC0 · Fulviusbsas — Public domain · Mathieu Marquer from Paris, FRANCE — CC BY-SA 2.0
A small square hidden in the Cosme Velho district, reached through a narrow alley that crosses a little bridge over the Carioca River, one of the few places in the city where you can see the stream that gave Rio's people their nickname, «Cariocas». It takes its name from the apothecary Joaquim Luís da Silva Souto, who treated members of the royal family, bought land here and moved in around 1831. Its present look dates from the 1920s, when Edmundo Bittencourt, founder of the Correio da Manhã newspaper, bought the property and built neo-colonial houses; modernist architects such as Lucio Costa later restored some of them with original materials salvaged from buildings demolished around the city. With its colours and the Atlantic forest around it, the square became a place of parties and high society, and it appears in the 1970s James Bond film «Moonraker». The houses have been neglected in recent decades and some stand closed, but the square still makes a lovely stop for anyone visiting the nearby Corcovado railway, a few minutes' walk away.
Seen from the little bridge.
Neo-colonial style.
Minutes from the train.
Rua Cosme Velho 822, Cosme Velho, Rio de Janeiro
It is a few minutes' walk from the Corcovado train station in Cosme Velho, through an alley that crosses the Carioca River.
