also known as praia de dona luíza (mrs. luíza's beach), praia do recôncavo (beach of the cove) is a 800 meter beach located in rio's  west zone, in the lower-middle class neighborhood of sepetiba.

according to local residents, dona luíza was a woman who lived for many years in a small cob-wall house built on the beach. 

this is the same type of construction used in many of the first houses built in favelas, before being replaced by the characteristic orange-brick houses that allow for the stacking of multiple floors.