Located on the ascent to Morro da Conceição, the Hanging Garden of Valongo was one of the hallmarks of the Pereira Passos administration (1902-1906). The Garden, inaugurated in 1906, was designed by the landscape architect, Luis Rey, as part of a renovation and embellishment plan for the city with the objective of erasing the marks of slavery on the region known as Little Africa. Designed as a romantic garden, it was created for members of high society to stroll through in the late afternoon.
After being closed for years, it reopened in 2012 and became part of the Historical and Architectural Circuit for the Celebration of African Heritage. The Guardhouse, one of the outbuildings of the Garden, hosts a permanent exhibition of the archeological finds excavated during the reconstruction of the Port Region. Also found in the Garden are statues of Minerva, Mars, Ceres, and Mercury, which were in the Empress Wharf.