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Sugarloaf seen from Urca hill.Sugarloaf view from Botafogo beachSunrise in Rio de Janeiro with Sugarloaf Mountain, as seen from Tijuca Forest
Sugarloaf Mountain (Portuguese: Pão de Açúcar, pronounced[ˈpɐ̃wdʒ(i)ɐˈsukaʁ]) is a peak situated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on a peninsula at the mouth of Guanabara Bay. Rising 396 m (1,299 ft) above the harbor,[1] the peak is named for its resemblance to the traditional shape of concentrated refined loaf sugar. It is known worldwide for its cableway and panoramic views of the city and beyond.
The mountain is one of several monolithicgranite and quartz mountains that rise straight from the water's edge around Rio de Janeiro.[2] Geologically, it is considered part of a family of steep-sided rock outcroppings known as bornhardts.[3][4]
The name Sugarloaf was coined in the 16th century by the Portuguese during the heyday of sugarcane trade in Brazil due to sugar imports from the Portuguese conquest of Goa, according to historian Vieira Fazenda. Blocks of sugar were placed in conical molds made of clay to be transported on ships. The form of the peak reminded them of the well-known resulting "sugarloaf" shape, and the nickname has since been extended to be a general descriptor for formations of this kind.[6]
A glass-walled cable car (bondinho or, more formally, teleférico), capable of holding 65 people, runs along a 1,400 m (4,600 ft) route between the peaks of Sugarloaf and Morro da Urca every 20 minutes. The original cable car line was built in 1912 and rebuilt around 1972–73 and in 2008. The cable car goes from a ground station, at the base of Morro da Babilônia, to Morro da Urca and thence to Sugarloaf's summit.
To reach the summit, passengers take two cable cars. The first ascends to the shorter Morro da Urca, 220 m (722 ft) high. The second car ascends to Pão de Açúcar.[7] The Swiss-made bubble-shaped cars offer passengers 360° views of the surrounding city.[8] The ascent takes three minutes.[9][clarification needed]
1907 – Brazilian engineer Augusto Ferreira Ramos had the idea of linking the hills through a path in the air.
1910 – The same engineer founded the Society of Sugar Loaf and the same year the works were started. The project was commissioned in Germany and built by Brazilian workers. All parts were taken by climbing mountains or lifted by steel cables.
1912 – Opening of the cableway, the first in Brazil and the third of this kind worldwide;[10] the first cable cars were made of coated wood and were used for 61 years.
1973 – The current models of cars were put into operation. This increased the carrying capacity by almost ten times.
2009 – Inauguration of the next generation of cable cars that had already been purchased and are on display at the base of Red Beach
2020 – Closed in March[11] and reopened in August[12][13]
Panoramic view of Rio de Janeiro and Niterói (right) from Sugarloaf
There are rock climbing routes on Sugarloaf that are mostly multipitch and are a mixture of sport and trad.[14] There are also two other mountains in the area with technical rock climbing, Morro da Babilônia[15] and Morro da Urca.[16] Together, they form one of the largest urban climbing areas in the world, with more than 270 routes, between 1 and 10 pitches long.
In the 1979James Bond film Moonraker, the villainous henchman Jaws (played by Richard Kiel) attempts to kill 007 (Roger Moore) and the agent's ally, Dr. Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles), on a cable car. However, Bond and Goodhead escape and Jaws collides with the building at the bottom of the cable car route, demolishing the building, but escaping unscathed.
Mechanic: Resurrection (2016), starring Jason Statham. At the beginning of the film Arthur Bishop (Statham) is attacked at a restaurant on Morro da Urca and escapes on the roof of a cable car.
The 2023 reality competition show 007: Road to a Million, a spin-off of the Bond franchise, featured Sugarloaf Mountain in two episodes.[17] Two of the show's participants scaled the mountain before climbing outside of a cable car, as an homage to Moonraker.[18]
View of Sugarloaf from the Silvestre road, c. 1823. Painting by Charles Landseer.
Emperor Pedro I of Brazil (also King of Portugal as Pedro IV) with his crown and the Sugarloaf in the background, c. 1825
Sugarloaf and the Nossa Senhora da Glória do Outeiro (Our Lady of the Glory of the Hill) church as seen from the neighborhood of Glória, c. 1846. Painting by Eduard Hildebrandt.
^Lonely Planet: Rio de Janeiro, page 76, Ricardo Gomes, John Maier Jr et al., 2006, Lonely Planet Publications, ISBN1-74059-910-1
^"Highlights of Rio de Janeiro". Insight Guides. The mighty Sugar Loaf Mountain (Pão de Açúcar). Archived from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
Media related to Sugarloaf Mountain at Wikimedia Commons
(in Portuguese, English, and Spanish)
