Often confused with neighboring districts (Maria da Graça, Inhaúma, Todos os Santos, Cachambi, Pillars, Méier), Del Castilho is historically marked by the path of the Jesuits, an axis of integration established in colonial Brazil. Rio de Janeiro has grown through this area, from a Tupi discovered route and was improved by the Jesuits, when the population of the city was limited to the city center. The road became part of the gold route in the eighteenth century and then became more important with the arrival of the royal family to Brazil and the appreciation of the Santa Cruz farm.
In the mid-nineteenth century, the region predominantly rural up until then, was cut by the passage of the railroad, with 3 branches nearby (Dom Pedro II, Auxiliar and Leopoldina). Small administrative centers multiplied next to the houses, expanding the suburbs with the arrival of industrialization in the twentieth century. In the 20s, the establishment of Cia de Tecidos Nova América (a fabrics manufacturer) the occupation of the neighborhood was consolidated, first with workers' villages, then with popular housing. With the closing of the factories, the neighborhood witnessed an increase in poverty along with an escalation of violence. Currently, shopping malls act as community builders in the region. It is this soulful suburb that Rolé Carioca will embrace in Del Castilho.
Founded by Domingos Bebianno and Mark Sutton, former partners of the manufacturing América Fabril, this textile factory was opened in 1924. It became the largest employer in the neighborhood and also the community axis with a working village, a school, a clinic, a police station and recreation areas. In 1991, its facilities were deactivated and the factory moved to Duque de Caxias. In its grounds, in 1995, Shopping Mall Nova América was built, preserving the original architecture of the plant, all in brick, in English style.
The road was given the name of the pacifist American pastor Martin Luther King Jr. and provides access to eleven stations of Rio’s subway Line 2. It was important to integrate the city center to the road that connected Minas Gerais and São Paulo. Part of the road was also known as the Old Way to Pavuna, and made the connection to the former Royal path.
An excerpt from one of the oldest roads in the city of Rio de Janeiro, this avenue has received several names over time: Caminho dos Jesuítas, do ouro, Caminho dos reis, Estrada Real e Imperial de Santa Cruz. Right at its beginning, it goes through the neighborhoods of Maria da Graça, Del Castilho, Cachambi, Pilares, Abolição, Engenho de Dentro and Piedade.
Recently created inside the Cathedral called Catedral da Fé da Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus, it is a cultural space that houses the largest scale model of Ancient Jerusalem outside Israel. Right here, in Rio, one can have a lesson of Ancient History and Christianity in Brazil.
Although it was only built in the eighteenth century, this mansion is part of the oldest rural properties in the State – it is what's left of a piece of land donated by Estácio de Sá to the Jesuits, around 1560. The house was built on a hill and served as a residence for the bishop José Castelo Branco until his death in 1805. In 1975, it became an IAB branch, where a center for studies in archeology was put together.
Founded in 1903, the Brotherhood São Sebastião was called Devoção de São Sebastião. The current name was established in 1923 with the construction of the chapel which has as a relic a piece of bone from Saint Sebastian.
The origin of the name "Del Castilho" is controversial. Some historians believe that among the tenants of the lands there was a Spanish lord called Henry de Castilho, who would then have given the name to the neighborhood. Others say that the name came to be when the railway station was inaugurated as a tribute to the engineer of the railroad Melhoramentos do Brasil, Manoel Maria Del Castilho, a personal friend of Paulo de Frontin, designer and coordinator of the project.
The Catholic bishop and the American Protestant pastor were chosen to rename major roads marked by poverty, placed side by side in a city that embraces its citizens equally. Even though the historical names of Automóvel Clube and Suburbana were pretty much established, the symbolism of these two religious who stood out in the fight against human inequality and embraced those who most needed was a powerful move.
During the persecution of Luis Carlos Prestes and Olga Benário, promoted by the government of Getúlio Vargas, the couple hid at Honório street, in the limits of Todos os Santos and Cachambi. This persecution would eventually send Olga Benário to a concentration camp in Germany and Luis Carlos Prestes ended up in prison for a long time. Olga was a well-trained Soviet agent and was sent to work in favor of communism in Brazil and appointed as chief of the Prestes security. It turned out that, among the orders and ideological searches of comrades, they fell in love!
This Samba School is famous for sambas that are humorous and critical of social reality. For example: in the carnival of 1985 after Beija Flor had acquired several titles with a lot of nudity and expensive cars, Caprichosos’ samba was about longing, provoking the adversary, it went like this: "there is a lot of naked butts, one of theses days everybody will be completely naked" In 1993, with the theme "There Is no sin on this side of the tunnel Rebouças", they paid tribute to the suburban resident.
01, Faleiros Street – Pilares
https://www.facebook.com/caprichososdepilares
“The truth is: I drank too much and that’s when I bought the joint…” This is how Marcelo Novaes, owner of Cachambeer, talks about the beginning of the “bum bar”, which he kept next to his house only to drink with friends. Nowadays, the joint is a huge bar and is famous for the largest smoked rib in the city, among many other ethyl-gastronomical options.
Address: 475, Cachambi St. - Cachambi
Phone: (21) 3597-2002
Website: https://www.facebook.com/cachambeer/
Located in Maria da Graça, this bar maintains the characteristics of an old tavern in the suburbs of Rio. It is famous for its appetizers, especially the dried meat cut into cubes wrapped in flour (considered the best in town), the dumplings of minced meat, polenta with oxtail and draft beer. A somewhat unusual appetizer also served is the breaded cauliflower.
881, Conde de Azambuja St. - Maria da Graça
Phone: (21) 2501-4175
Monday to Thursday, from 6 AM to 10 PM; Friday, from 6 AM to Midnight; Saturday until 8 PM
http://visit.rio/onde_comer/cafe-e-bar-lisbela-bar-da-amendoeira/
