Copacabana

Copacabana is Brazil’s most famous beach: about 4 km of curving sand from Leme to the Copacabana Fort, with the open ocean on one side and Avenida Atlântica, its buildings and hotels on the other. It is an urban beach, lively from sunrise to sunset, where Rio walks, plays ball, works out and meets up.

Until the late 19th century the area was sparsely settled, with small farms and fishermen, cut off from the rest of the city by the hills. The name comes from an old chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Copacabana, a devotion of Bolivian origin, which stood on the point where the fort is today. Everything changed in 1892, when the Túnel Velho opened and the tram arrived: the neighborhood grew fast and in 1923 gained the Copacabana Palace, the symbol of Rio glamour.

The promenade is an attraction in itself. Its wave pattern in Portuguese stone paving took its current form around 1970, when Avenida Atlântica was widened and the seafront was redesigned by landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx. By the sand run the black-and-white waves; on the building side, his abstract mosaics form a work of art you can walk along.

At the southern end, the Copacabana Fort, opened in 1914, houses the Army History Museum and a branch of Confeitaria Colombo, with tables facing the beach. In 1922 the fort was the scene of the “Revolt of the 18 of the Fort”, a landmark episode in Brazil’s political history. At the other end, Leme closes the arc of sand.

The high point of the year is New Year’s Eve (Réveillon), when millions of people, many dressed in white, pack the sand to watch the fireworks over the sea. Day to day, the lifeguard posts (postos) serve as meeting points — each stretch has its own crowd and vibe. The nickname “Princesinha do Mar” (Little Princess of the Sea) was immortalized by the song “Copacabana”, by João de Barro and Alberto Ribeiro, recorded by Dick Farney in 1946.