In a series of articles entitled “As religiões no Rio” [Religions in Rio] that were published by Gazeta de Noticias, Paulo Barreto (1881-1921), under the pseudonym João do Rio, describes […]

“The Macumba was being held out in the Mangue area in that big ol’ rowdy house run by Tia Ciata, a sorceress like no other, a renowned mãe-de santo and […]

The only known first-person statement by Tia Ciata can be found in a police report published in Jornal do Brasil. On April 13, 1901, Hilária Pereira Ernesto, the legal name […]

Tia Dodô and Tia Lúcia brought the spirit of the great Afro-Brazilian leaders into the 21st century. Maria das Dores Alves Rodrigues (1920-2015), or Tia Dodô, was born in the […]

Tia Amélia, in a rare record of her dressed in the typical clothing of the “tias”, was also born in Bahia. Her son Donga said that she carried the habit […]

If Little Africa’s capital is Praça Onze, then its main authority is Tia Ciata. Born Hilária Batista de Almeida, the Bahian woman who lived in the city for almost 50 […]

Little Africa’s formation is intertwined with the history of Rio’s port area. From the activity in the first warehouses to the inauguration of Praça Mauá in 1910, a large majority […]

Built in the 19th century to drain the swampy area around Praça Onze, the Mangue Canal is intrinsic to the region’s physical and human landscape. From an urban viewpoint, it […]

At the opposite end of Avenida Central, where the big-time carnival outfits were headlining at the official, white and Europeanized city’s parades, the revelers of Praça Onze occupied the streets […]

Photogenic Praça Onze has been widely documented. At times, it appears almost austere, with the clear outline of the Frenchified urbanization in the foreground. At other times, surrounded by leafy […]