LITTLE AFRICAS

Around one million enslaved Africans passed through and were forced to live at the Valongo Wharf Complex, considered the largest slave port in history. Built in 1811, the port was shut down two decades later in 1831 following the first Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade in Brazil. Entirely leveled during Pereira Passos’ urban reforms at the beginning of the 20th century, the wharf was rediscovered in 2011 during excavations. Recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017, Valongo is one of the most eloquent testaments to the brutality of slavery. A memorial to past tragedy, it is also a landmark of the survival and resistance of the Afro-descendant population that settled around it and gave unique and singular meaning to Brazilian cultural identity by reinventing their shattered lives.