on the banks of the lagoon once known by the indigenous as sapopenipă (pond of difficult roots) and by the portuguese as lagoa dos socós (lagoon of the herons), surrounded by granite hills, the statue of christ the redeemer, and the neighborhood of ipanema, is the parque do cantagalo - a true gem for sports, leisure, relaxation, family time, and pic-nics.
the parque do cantagalo is part of the parque tom jobim - and it is located in rio's south zone facing the lagoon now called lagoa rodrigo de freitas. the current name of the lagoon is in honor of rodrigo de freitas, the last person to privately own the land where the lagoon is located, up until the 17th century.
