The Ladeira da Misericórdia was the first public road in Rio de Janeiro. It was inaugurated in 1567, when the small village was moved from the Morro Cara de Cão in Urca to a safer, harder to invade locale: Morro do Castelo, which no longer exists.
Important Brazilian buildings and institutions operated on the Ladeira de Misericórdia. Rio’s first customs house, first jail, first House of Representatives, and first city courthouse were all located there. The first Constituent Assembly of an independent Brazil was also set up there, in 1823.
With the demolition of the Morro do Castelo in 1922, the road was almost completely destroyed. Only the small, initial stretch remained, located beside the Nossa Senhora do Bonsucesso Church. This part maintains its original cobblestones with its ‘pé de moleque’ style, a construction technique consisting of round river stones set on a dirt road.