Selaron Stairs

From the aqueduct, we walked through some interesting streets full of quirky architecture and street art to reach the Selaron Stairs.

Escadaria Selarón, known locally as the 'Lapa Steps' (Escadaria da Lapa), are world-famous and one of the main tourist attractions in Rio de Janeiro. They are the work of Chilean-born artist Jorge Selarón who said they were 'my tribute to the Brazilian people'.  There are 215 steps, rising to a height of 125 metres.

In 1990, Selarón began renovating dilapidated steps that ran along the front of his house. At first, his neighbours mocked him for his choice of colours as he covered the steps in fragments of blue, green, and yellow tiles – the colours of the Brazilian flag.  It started out as a side-project to his main passion, painting, but soon became an obsession.  He found he was constantly out of money, so Selarón sold paintings to fund his work.  It was long and exhausting work, but he continued and eventually covered the entire set of steps in tiles, ceramics, and mirrors.

Originally, tiles for the work were scavenged from various construction sites and piles of urban waste found on the Rio streets, but in later years, most of the tiles were donated by visitors from all around the world.  Of the 2000+ tiles, 300-odd were hand-painted by Selarón depicting a pregnant African woman. Selarón didn't comment on this except to say that it was a 'personal problem from my past'.

Needless to say, the steps were teeming with visitors.  It was difficult to take a decent photo.  Perhaps we will visit at a quieter time during the month we are spending in the city.Read more