Rua São Clemente, along with Rua Voluntários da Pátria, are the main streets that cross the Botafogo neighborhood.

With the arrival of the Portuguese Royal Family in the city, in 1808, it changed the life of Rio and, of course, Botafogo. From a rural neighborhood, it became the favorite location of English nobles and merchants, who built their homes there. Before, Botafogo had only the Caminho do Berquó, today Rua General Polidoro; the Copacabana Way, currently Rua da Passagem; Botafogo Beach; and Rua São Clemente, which cut through the neighborhood. Little by little, other streets began to appear. The noblest place was still Rua São Clemente, where all the coffee barons lived. On Rua Voluntários da Pátria, small nobles and merchants were established. Later, in the 1846s, a steamboat system made the connection between Botafogo and Cais Pharoux (now Praça XV de Novembro).

The name of a saint on the famous road in the Botafogo neighborhood hides a curious history, with some divine passages and an unexpected outcome.

In 1628, Clemente Martins de Matos, son of the military and politician Álvaro de Matos and Marta Filgueira, was born in the city of Rio de Janeiro. During adolescence, as was common among wealthier families, Clemente was sent to a seminary in Lisbon, where he was to be ordained a priest.

“It is said that young Clemente got a lot done, getting involved with women, and that, for this reason, he would have been expelled from the seminary. For anyone, it would have meant the end of the pretensions of a career in the Church; but it didn’t disturb Clemente, who wasn’t just anyone ”, says Antonio Augusto Brito, on the website Curta Botafogo.

Counting on the influence of a wealthy family full of contacts, Clemente finished his studies in Rome to become a priest and returned to Brazil in 1650.

“Also thanks to‘ meritocracy ’, Clemente went up to important positions in the Church: vicar general, archbishop and chief treasurer, until he reached the condition of substitute for the bishop”, highlights Antonio Augusto Brito.

At the end of his tenure as chief treasurer, the old Sé building - the church of São Sebastião, at the top of Morro Castelo - was falling apart, while Clemente had grown to the point of acquiring, in 1680, the equivalent of the entire neighborhood from Botafogo.

The lands of Clemente had as limit the Enseada de Botafogo, Lagoa de Sacopenapã (today Rodrigo de Freitas) and the hills of São João and Dona Marta, the latter named in honor of Clemente's mother.

“Modesty was also not Father Clemente's forte. In the lands he bought, he founded a farm - the Fazenda do Vigário Geral or São Clemente, in honor of the saint of the same name. Perhaps because God forgives everyone who repents, Father Clemente erected a chapel dedicated to… Saint Clement! And, finally, he ordered a path from the Botafogo Bay to the chapel, which he called… that's right: São Clemente! ”, Says Antonio Augusto Brito.

In June 1702, Father Clemente passed away. His legacy was already built. And it follows us, like Rua São Clemente.

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