established in the early 1900, the
morro do macacos
(hill of the monkeys) owes its name to a farm belonging to
the jesuits who originally lived there.
later
appropriated by the royal family and used as hunting grounds,
these lands were abandoned when king
dom
pedro i went back to
portugal.
at that
point, purchased by a noble of the time, this land became a
settlement near vila isabel, a local neighborhood.
caught in the middle of local drug trafficking, this favela fell
victim to severe deterioration over the past 30 years, that only
recently has started to reverse.