Washing of the Valongo Wharf, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

About the Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site

The city of Rio de Janeiro, shaped by interaction with mountains and sea, lies in the narrow strip of alluvial plain between Guanabara Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Its exceptionally dramatic landscape is punctuated by a series of forested mountains that tower over the city, and cascading down to the coast where the steep cone shapes of Pão de Açúcar, Urca, Cara de Cão and Corcovado frame the wide sweeps of Guanabara Bay that shelters Rio de Janeiro from the Atlantic Ocean. Cradled between these mountains and Guanabara Bay, the city has been shaped by significant historical events, influenced by a diversity of cultures.

The Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2017 under criterion (vi). The site is located in central Rio de Janeiro, approximately 3km to the north-west of the property Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between the Mountain and the Sea.

The Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site encompasses the entirety of Jornal do Comércio Square. It is in the former harbour area of Rio de Janeiro in which the old stone wharf was built for the landing of enslaved Africans reaching the South American continent from 1811 onwards. An estimated 900,000 Africans arrived in South America via Valongo. The site is composed of several archaeological layers, the lowest of which consists of floor pavings in pé de moleque style, attributed to the original Valongo Wharf. It is the most important physical trace of the arrival of African slaves on the American continent.


^{Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site © Milton Guran}

The Washing of the Valongo Wharf: remembrance, culture and community 

The Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site comprises the globally most significant remains of a landing point of enslaved Africans in the Americas. It carries enormous historical and spiritual importance to African Americans, standing as an open-air memorial of the transatlantic trade of enslaved people. The Valongo Wharf can therefore be seen as unique and exceptional both from a material point of view and with regard to the spiritual associations to which it is tangibly related.

It is a site of conscience, which illustrates strong and tangible associations to one of the most terrible crimes of humanity, the enslavement of hundreds of thousands of people creating the largest forced migration movement in history. As the very location the African stepped onto American soil and with it into their new lives as enslaved labour, the site evokes painful memories, which many African Brazilians can strongly relate to. Preserving these memories, the vicinity of Valongo Wharf has become an arena for various manifestations celebrating African heritage on an ongoing basis.

The Washing of the Wharf is a symbolic ritual of cleaning and purification to pay tribute to the spirits of the African ancestors who reached this entry port in captivity. The ritual started shortly after the discovery of the remains in 2011, when the excavating archaeologists invited priestesses of traditional African spiritual communities to visit the site.

The archaeological site and the square in its immediate surroundings are used to carry out a parade and the ritual of washing stones from the pier, using water consecrated with flowers. The religious community participates wearing traditional dress.

The property is cherished by the African-Brazilian community, with local groups committed on a daily basis to the site’s care and preservation. This is expressed in the religious value the site has been attributed and the associated rituals that have developed around it. The physical proximity of these actors and the planned presence of a church of the African cult (Iglesia Universal) next to the site to organise regular meetings create a strong feeling of community guardianship of the property. In the Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site, the intangible cultural heritage comprised by the rituals and cultural manifestations is an integral part of the identity and Outstanding Universal Value of the site. This identity is safeguarded by a management framework that encourages community involvement and use.

Source: Nomination file, Ms Cristina Lodi

To learn more

• Read the 2017 Nomination File and the Advisory Body Evaluation.
• Read about the Valongo Wharf on the site of “Memorias Situadas”, an interactive map of places of memory (in English and Spanish)
• Read the magazine Revista Sítio Arqueológico Cais do Valongo, developed by the Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional, 2017 (in English and Portuguese).
• Read The Washing Ceremony of the Valongo Slave Wharf. Ritual Agency and Heritage in the Old Port Area of Rio de Janeiro, Jérôme Souty. Cahiers d’études africaines, 229 | 2018. (in English and French)  

Contact

Instituto de Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional (IPHAN)

Museum of Afro-Brazilian History and Culture

Credits
© UNESCO, 2021. Project team: Jyoti Hosagrahar, Alba Zamarbide, Carlota Marijuán Rodríguez.
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