at the beginning of
the 17th century a small chapel was built by
the order of the carmelite sisters
on the morro de santa teresa in the centre of rio - at the time
the hill was called morro do
desterro.
in 1620, the then governor of rio de janeiro donated
the land to the sisters in order to allow the building of a
convent.
it was finally constructed in 1750 and
after its completion the
name of the hill was changed to santa teresa, after the convent.