Carioca Aqueduct

Brief Information

The Carioca Aqueduct is notable not only for its arches: its main peculiarity is that a water conduit became a tram bridge. The structure was built in the mid-18th century to carry water from the Carioca River into the city, where fresh water had previously been brought by hand from distant streams. That is why the long arcade in Lapa reads as an engineering response to an everyday problem, rather than as pure decoration in the center of Rio.

At the end of the 19th century, the old aqueduct was closed because other ways of supplying the city with water had appeared. In 1896, the arches were converted for the Santa Teresa tram, which connected the center of Rio with the hilly district of Santa Teresa. Thus the same structure first carried water and then began to carry passengers.

What to Notice First

It makes sense to view the aqueduct as a repurposed engineering line. Its most expressive section connects the hills of Santa Teresa and Santo Antônio: this explains the elongated form of the structure and its role as a passage across the space of Lapa. The two tiers of arches show that what stands before the viewer is not simply a wall, but a tall structure designed for an extended water channel.

You can compare the repeating arches with their current tram function. The logic of a water conduit required a continuous course between elevations; later, that same continuity made it possible to run a tram along the top. The openness of the view is also important: in the 1960s, several houses near the aqueduct were demolished so that the monument could be seen more clearly. Therefore, the open space around the arches is also part of the story, not an accidental pause in the urban fabric.