Selarón Steps
Two hundred and fifteen steps covered in two thousand tiles from sixty countries.
Duration
30 min – 45 min
Best time
Early morning
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
Jorge Selarón, a Chilean painter settled in Rio, began covering the steps outside his house in 1990 with salvaged tiles. He kept at it for twenty-three years, saying the work would only end with his death — he was found dead on these steps in 2013.
The stairway has two hundred and fifteen steps and around two thousand tiles, sent by visitors from more than sixty countries. Red dominates, in tribute to the Brazilian flag, and Selarón painted and repainted the same pregnant woman on dozens of tiles without ever explaining who she was.
Getting there
Between Lapa and Santa Teresa, at the foot of Rua Joaquim Silva. Metro to Cinelândia, then ten minutes on foot.
What to bring
- Walking shoes
Rules on site
The Lapa district is best avoided alone after dark and phone thefts are common on the steps themselves. Come early, in a group, and keep the camera in your hand rather than round your neck.
Other places in Rio de Janeiro
- Christ the RedeemerThirty-eight metres of concrete with its arms open, seven hundred metres above the bay.
- Sugarloaf MountainTwo cable cars in succession up to three hundred and ninety-six metres, above the mouth of the bay.
- Copacabana and IpanemaFour kilometres of sand and the most copied pavement mosaic in the world.
- Botanical GardenAn avenue of thirty-metre imperial palms, and marmosets in the branches.