in addition, it is blessed with an incredible light show, as the sun sneaks in through the crack in the rock.

another popular cave to visit, in the floresta da tijuca, is the gruta de paulo e virgínia, deep within the forests vast expanse. it was named by coffee-baron gastão luiz henrique de robert d'escragnolle, after characters in one of his favorite novels, as the entrance to the cave has two boulders leaning against each other.

gruta de paulo e virgínia is a delightful little spot, which is just 800 meters away from the pirajú fountain, and it is located at the starting point for two trails that lead to some of the forests famous waterfalls.