the Morro da Providência is located in Gamboa, in the Port district of Rio, and holds the historic title of first favela in the city. The first residents of the Morro were veterans of the Canudos War in 1897, who had been promised housing by the government, as well as a high concentration of Afro-Brazilians who flocked to Rio following the abolition of slavery.

It was initially known as 'Morro da Favela' in the late 19th Century, hence the term nowadays used to describe all of the hillside communities that pepper the city. The great urban reforms and landfills that were designed and engineered by Pereira Passos led to widespread destructions of public housing, and increased residency on the now Providência hillside.

In 1904, the government attempted to remove residents - an effort which was met by the successful resistance effort known as the 'Vaccine Revolt'. Social problems ravaged the community throughout this period and in the 1910s Providência was considered the most violent area of the city.