Benfica is a neighborhood in the North Zone of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. It is located near

São Cristóvão São Cristóvão (, ''Saint Christopher'') is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeastern state of Sergipe. Founded at the mouth of the Vaza-Barris River on January 1, 1590, the municipality is ...

and

Engenho de Dentro Engenho de Dentro is a middle-class and lower-middle-class neighbourhood in the Rio de Janeiro#North Zone, North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It borders the neighbourhoods of Abolição, Água Santa, Rio de Janeiro, Água Santa, Cachambi, Encan ...

, within the

Centro Centro may refer to: Places Brazil *Centro, Santa Maria, a neighborhood in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro, Porto Alegre, a neighborhood of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Centro (Duque de Caxias), a neighborhood of Du ...

(Downtown) Administrative Region. Benfica was first populated in the 16th century, as an area of

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

plantation developed by

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

missionaries, who received an extensive donation of land, which also included present-day Engenho da Rainha and

Engenho Novo Engenho Novo is a neighborhood of middle class and lower middle of the Rio de Janeiro#North Zone, North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The region's HDI, in 2000, was 0.858: the 45th best in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. It neighbors the n ...

, from

Estácio de Sá Estácio de Sá (1520 – 20 February 1567) was a Portuguese soldier and officer. Sá travelled to the colony of Brazil on the orders of the Portuguese crown to wage war on the French colonists commanded by Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon. The ...

. After the jesuits were expelled from the

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire was a colonial empire that existed between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa ...

by the

marquis of Pombal A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or widow) ...

, in 1759, possessions in Benfica were granted to various private owners, and the region became further populated. The neighbourhood has historically played a role as a resting place and point of passage to places of interest in the outskirts of Rio, most notably on the

Estrada Real Estrada Real (, ''Royal Road'') was an epithet applied to the roads built and maintained by the Portuguese Crown both in Portugal itself and in the Portuguese Empire, Portuguese overseas territories. Presently it is used to designate a set of ...

(Royal Road). Today, Benfica is served by the Avenida Brasil and Avenida Dom Hélder Câmara, two avenues which link downtown Rio to suburbs in the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and West Zones.

References

{{Rio de Janeiro city neighbourhoods Neighbourhoods in Rio de Janeiro (city)