sugar loaf mountain looms large on the skyline over looking rio de janeiro's harbour - the granite colossus is one of the city's major tourist attractions and resides at the mouth of guanabara bay in the neighborhood of urca. morro do pasmado affords some exclusive views of the natural form that has become such a recognized symbol of rio de janeiro.  

portuguese settlers named the mountain 'pão de açúcar' due to its appearance - the last phase of the sugar production process involved pouring the sugar into inverted conical clay molds called 'sugarloaves'. these suagr cones aparently resembled the natural structure, which reaches out into the atlantic ocean and stands just shy of 400 meters tall.