Coordinates: 22°54′45.34″S 43°10′47.46″W / 22.9125944°S 43.17985°W / -22.9125944; -43.17985

The Carioca Aqueduct (Portuguese: Aqueduto da Carioca) is an aqueduct in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The aqueduct was built in the middle of the 18th century to bring fresh water from the Carioca river to the population of the city. It is an impressive example of colonial architecture and engineering.

The Carioca Aqueduct is located in the centre of the city, in the Lapa neighbourhood, and is frequently called Arcos da Lapa (Lapa Arches) by Brazilian people. Since the end of the 19th century the aqueduct serves as a bridge for a popular tram that connects the city centre with the Santa Teresa neighbourhood uphill, the Santa Teresa Tramway.

In the early history of Rio de Janeiro, the nucleus of the city was surrounded by swamps with water of bad quality, and fresh water had to be carried manually from streams located relatively far from the city. Since at least 1602 there had been plans to build a system of canals to bring water from the source of the Carioca river, located on Santa Teresa hill, to Rio de Janeiro. Colonial authorities attempted to build canals, but the construction was always hampered by technical and financial difficulties. By the end of the 17th century there were only a few hundred metres of canalisation completed.

Burton Holmes (1870–1958) was an American traveler, photographer and filmmaker, who coined the term "travelogue".

Travel stories, slide shows, and motion pictures were all in existence before Holmes began his career, as was the profession of travel lecturer; but Holmes was the first person to put all of these elements together into documentary travel lectures.^{[citation needed]}

Burton Holmes was born into a middle-class Chicago family, the son of a banker. His interest in travel was sparked at the age of nine when his grandmother took him to hear a then-famous travel lecturer, John L. Stoddard (whom Holmes was to meet on a subsequent trip abroad). In 1890, Holmes accompanied his grandmother on a trip to Europe and when he returned showed slides of his trip at the Chicago Camera Club, of which he was a member. Holmes wrote of this event: "To take the edge off the silence, to keep the show moving, I wrote an account of my journey and read it, as the stereopticon man changed slides."

Despite the success of this event, which grossed $350 for the club, it wasn't until several years later that Holmes decided to set himself up as a travel lecturer. In 1893, after sending out 2000 invitations to a select group of Chicagoans, Holmes gave two sold-out talks about a recent trip to Japan.