this rock is named with a tupi-guarani indigenous word, meaning 'rock with a hole,' due to the original shape of the rock before it was changed.  

the pedra de itapuca was originally connected to the shore via a natural arch of rock that was demolished in 1840 to make way for the seaside road and the neighborhood. 

legend says that in the rock still live the spirits of jurema and cauby. 

against the laws of her tribe, jurema was an indigenous girl in love with cauby, a white boy.