as a reward, the small settlement was became
its own town separate from the city of rio de janeiro.
in 1834 when rio de janeiro gained its own
autonomy as a province, vila real da praia grande was chosen as
rio de janeiro's state capital, and renamed 'nictheroy,'
which means 'hidden waters' in the language of the indigenous
tupi-guarani.
the history of
niterói
is where praia grande
gets its name, but the beach itself is mostly a memory -
urbanization of the area meant new challenges in the areas of
waste management.