Escadaria Selarón

The Escadaria Selarón sits in the Lapa neighborhood, the set of steps locals also call the Lapa Steps.

Chilean painter Jorge Selarón laid the tiles and called the climb his homage to Brazil.

The climb is treated as a living surface: ceramic in many colours, sizes, and forms covers the steps, and the artist kept renewing the covering.

The Spanish account of the work gives 215 steps and a length of 125 metres, begun in 1990 and kept in constant renovation.

The Portuguese page ranks the stair among Rio’s most sought tourist walks, after Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf.

The walk from Lapa to the Escadaria Selarón is about 10 minutes on foot. Start from the Lapa side and climb toward Santa Teresa; the tiles are the path, not a fenced exhibit.