Copacabana- The Famious beach of Brazil.

The name Copacabana has a Bolivian origin. Historians trace it to a XVII century image of Our Virgin Lady of Copacabana, brought by the Portuguese from a small village around distant Lake Titicaca. It was installed in a chapel that would later be demolished for the construction of Forte de Copacabana.
Until the late XIX century Copacabana was a distant area covered with sand, dunes and shrubs - not unlike Barra in the 60's. A small fishermen's village concentrated most of the dwellers. The neighborhood only started to grow with the opening of Tunel Velho, connecting it to Botafogo and Downtown.
The inauguration of the Av. Atlantica along the beach around the 1900's was a major turning point. When Copacabana Palace Hotel opened its doors in 1923, romance and glamour became Copacabana trademarks. Neoclassical and art-nouveau skyscrapers (4 to 12 stories high) added a touch of sophistication and wealthy Cariocas started to move to the suspended mansions.
Copacabana today is one of Rio's most democratic and eclectic neighborhoods. There are penthouses and apartments along the beach that are easily worth more than a million dollars. There are also buildings with as many as thirty tiny studio apartments on the same floor, and no parking garage.