São Januário

In the North Zone, near São Cristóvão, São Januário Stadium is the home of Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama and one of the most history-laden places in Brazilian football — not only for its matches, but for the fight against racism in the sport and for key moments in the country’s history.

Vasco was founded on August 21, 1898, as a rowing club, by members of Rio’s Portuguese community. The name honors the navigator Vasco da Gama, in the year that marked 400 years since his arrival in India. Football came later and became the club’s great passion.

In 1923, in its first year in the top division, Vasco won the Rio championship with a team that included Black and working-class players — something rare at a time when Rio football was dominated by elite clubs that resisted the presence of such athletes.

In 1924, when other clubs demanded that these players be excluded as a condition for admitting Vasco to a new league, president José Augusto Prestes replied with a letter that became known as the “Resposta Histórica” (Historic Reply), refusing to exclude them. The document is still remembered as a milestone in the fight against discrimination in Brazilian football.

The stadium was built largely with members’ contributions and opened on April 21, 1927, when it was the largest in Brazil. Its neo-colonial façade, listed as heritage, is one of the finest of any Brazilian stadium, and the raised ground earned the club the nickname “Gigante da Colina” (Giant of the Hill).

Before the Maracanã, São Januário was one of the city’s great stages. President Getúlio Vargas held Labor Day celebrations there and, on May 1, 1943, announced the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT), which still underpins working relations in Brazil today.