Valongo Wharf's UNESCO World Heritage Site Faces Neglect Despite Archaeological Rediscovery

The Cais do Valongo region in Rio de Janeiro, constructed in 1811 as Brazil's main slave trade port, remains threatened by governmental neglect despite its 2018 UNESCO World Heritage designation. Rediscovered in 2011 during excavations for the Porto Maravilha project linked to the 2016 Olympics, the site continues to flood during rains while thousands of archaeological artifacts sit unseen in 243 containers. The Docas Pedro 2o building, designed by Black engineer André Rebouças as Brazil's first construction without enslaved labor, now under the precarious guardianship of Fundação Palmares, requires urgent restoration. Federal defender Rita Cristina de Oliveira criticizes institutional failures, noting that legal actions by the Defensoria Pública and Ministério Público Federal have yielded few results. Community resistance persists through organizations like the Instituto de Pesquisa e Memória Pretos Novos, which reopened its permanent exhibition tracing enslaved Africans' journeys. Recent funding of R$2 million from a Carrefour settlement for a museological project offers limited hope amid broader dismantling policies.