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Sao Conrado Review
Read our Rio de Janeiro sights reviews. Or post your own.
São Conrado
- Address: Just west of Leblon, Rio de Janeiro
- Category: Neighborhoods/Streets, Beaches, Geological Sites
- Location: Sao Conrado
Fodor's Review:
Blocked by the imposing Dois Irmãos Mountain, Avenida Niemeyer snakes along rugged cliffs that offer spectacular sea views on the left. The road returns to sea level again in São Conrado, a natural amphitheater surrounded by forested mountains and the ocean. Development of what is now a mostly residential area began in the late '60s with an eye on Rio's high society. A short stretch along its beach includes the condominiums of a former president, the ex-wife of another former president, an ex-governor of Rio de Janeiro State, and a one-time Central Bank president. The far end of São Conrado is marked by the towering Pedra da Gávea, a huge flattop granite boulder. Next to it is Pedra Bonita, the mountain from which gliders depart. (Although this beach was the city's most popular a few years ago, contaminated water has discouraged swimmers.)
Ironically, the neighborhood is surrounded by favelas (shantytowns). Much of the high ground has been taken over by Rio's largest favela, Rocinha, where an estimated 200,000 people live. This precarious city within a city seems poised to slide down the hill. It and others like it are the result of Rio's chronic housing problem coupled with the refusal by many of the city's poor to live in distant working-class neighborhoods. Though the favelas are dangerous for the uninitiated, they have their own internal order, and their tremendous expansion has even upper-class cariocas referring to them not as slums but as neighborhoods. The favelas enjoy prime vistas, and most are constructed of brick. It is not advisable to enter a favela unless you are with an organized tour that has assured you of its safety.
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