Number 19 - Jardim Suspenso do Valongo

After days of rain, yesterday, the sun finally decided to show up. The sky cleared and we got a glorious afternoon, with clear air and a blue, blue sky, not typical of summer at all - wonderful!
I decided it was time to head downtown. As you must have noticed by now, downtown Rio is one of my favorite areas to explore, especially on the weekends when it is quiet and very empty.

And so, I headed for Rua Camerino and the Jardim Suspenso do Valongo or The Hanging Garden of Valongo. This little park was created in 1905 by the mayor Pereira Passos. The entrance is from Rua Camerino, up some very steep steps as the garden is located 7 meters above street level. It was built as part of a retaining wall, and was imagined as a romantic garden, for the rich to stroll.

Here is the Rua Camerino, on a quiet Saturday afternoon.

And here is the first glimpse I got of the garden after climbing the first steps.

Here are steps, seen from above the garden. It really is quite a climb!

For many years, the garden was completely abandoned, and the four statues of Roman gods that originally guarded the park had been vandalized and removed. It was restored, as part of the restoration project of the Rio Port, Porto Maravilha, and reopened in 2012.

The garden is not very big, and it really is hanging, planted in terraces up a high wall. Replicas of the original statues have been placed in the garden, and there are benches and paths to walk, or climb.

The yellow house is called Casa da Guarda, and was the house of the municipal guard and also where garden tools were kept.

I walked along the wall, high above Rua Camerino, and decided to follow the street behind the park, to get a view from the top.

The Garden is a quiet little corner of downtown Rio, well-kept and green, and on this Saturday afternoon only a few tourists had found it and were busy taking pictures, like myself.