25. Praia Vermelha x Morro da Urca

Section: Praia Vermelha x Morro da Urca

Orientation

Technical Information

Attractions

How to Get There

This section can be reached by continuing from the Ladeira do Leme x Praia Vermelha section heading West/Barra de Guaratiba to East/Pão de Açúcar. It can also be accessed from Praça General Tibúrcio in Urca, right in front of Praia Vermelha. From this point on, just follow the signage of yellow footprints/black base that continue along the beach sidewalk.

Trail Description

(West to East / Barra de Guaratiba to Pão de Açúcar)

From the right corner of Praia Vermelha, right in front of the stairs leading to the military circle, we walk following the yellow footprints/black base along the beach sidewalk until we go around a municipal school and then enter through the access gate to the Cláudio Coutinho boardwalk (200 m).

Now the walk continues along the Cláudio Coutinho boardwalk by the sea for about (400 m) until the trail entrance on the left, where there is a small well-signaled square. Entering the trail, we climb about (400 m) along a well-prepared trail to accommodate a large number of visitors. Soon we will have a viewpoint on the left and then we will reach a plateau where you can see Botafogo cove and Flamengo beach. Now just go (110 m) ahead and soon there will be another wooden viewpoint on your right.

Returning to the Main Trail, just walk another (350 m) to the top of Morro da Urca, which has a tourist complex on site. From this point you can return via the trail or take the cable car down.

Attractions

Viewpoints, view of Botafogo neighborhood, Botafogo cove, Guanabara Bay, Copacabana Beach, Urca, Morro da Babilônia, Cable Car Station, entrance to Guanabara Bay.

There are helicopter tours that can be booked at Morro da Urca. Information about the tour at Sugarloaf cable car: https://www.bondinho.com.br/comprar-ingresso

Section Map

Commerce/Lodging

Currently there is no partnership between the Transcarioca Trail and local commerce.

Water Points

It is recommended to get water at a store before entering the trail, as there are no streams with water along the way and during the summer the temperature gets very hot on this section. There are snack bars at the beach and at the top of Morro da Urca.

Photos

Historical Facts

In 1912, the inauguration of an aerial pathway in Rio de Janeiro included in the tourist map of Brazil an enterprise that would become world famous: the SUGARLOAF CABLE CAR. Today, the sight of the cable cars, in their constant coming and going, is incorporated into the Rio de Janeiro landscape.

Built, operated and maintained by Companhia Caminho Aéreo Pão de Açúcar, the Sugarloaf tourist complex was created for the enjoyment of thousands of people in a place privileged by its panoramic beauty.

A trademark of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Sugarloaf Mountain is a mountain almost entirely devoid of vegetation. It is a single block of granite rock, which has undergone alteration by pressure and temperature and is over 600 million years old.

Sugarloaf is surrounded by vegetation characteristic of the tropical climate, specifically a remnant of Atlantic Forest with native species that have already become extinct in other parts of the Brazilian coastal vegetation.

The origin of the name: There are several historical versions regarding the origin of the name Sugarloaf. According to historian Vieira Fazenda, it was the Portuguese who gave it this name, because during the apogee of sugarcane cultivation in Brazil (16th and 17th centuries), after the cane was squeezed and the juice boiled and refined, the sugar blocks were placed in a conical clay mold to be transported to Europe, which was called a sugar loaf. The resemblance of the Rio de Janeiro cliff to that clay mold is said to have originated the name.

Over time, the rock had the following names chronologically: "Pau-nh-açuquã" from the Tupi language, given by the Tamoios, the primitive inhabitants of Guanabara Bay, meaning "high, isolated and pointed hill"; "Pot de beurre" given by the first wave of French invaders; "Pão de Sucar" given by the first Portuguese colonizers; "Pot de Sucre" given by the second wave of French invaders. Orthographically, according to the previous Portuguese orthography, "Pão de Assucar", was with ss.

The name Sugarloaf became widespread from the second half of the 19th century, when Rio de Janeiro received the artistic missions of the German draftsman and painter Johann Moritz Rugendas and the French graphic artist Jean Baptiste Debret, who, in magnificent drawings and engravings, exalted the beauty of Sugarloaf.

Morro da Urca: When the French commanded by Villegaignon invaded Guanabara Bay, they led Portugal to send an expedition to expel them from the Rio de Janeiro land. Thus arrived Captain-mor Estácio de Sá and his men at the entrance of the Rio de Janeiro bar, disembarking on March 1, 1565. The landing site, where Estácio founded the city of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro (in honor of King Dom Sebastião), was the small strip of land in the "várzea" or "low and flat land", between the Cara de Cão and Sugarloaf hills. Which is none other than the current Praia de Fora, on the grounds of Fortaleza de São João.

As could not fail to be in a Portuguese and Catholic city, a wattle and daub chapel was erected to enthrone the image of São Sebastião. The founder, Estácio de Sá, died in 1567, was buried in this same chapel, and remained there until 1583, when he was transferred to Morro do Castelo, where the city was already established.

The first houses and churches of the city were located in the area where the Fortaleza de São João and the Army Physical Education School currently operate.

Adopting Group / Adopting Company

Company responsible for the management and maintenance of this section:

Companhia Caminho Aéreo Pão de Açúcar
Email: bondinho@bondinho.com.br