at a glance

the neighborhood's name 'gávea' refers to the pedra da gávea, a rock that stands 844 meters tall and is one of the largest sea-side solid granite mountains in the world.  

the portuguese explorers' first discovered the rock from the distant sea, and to them, it appeared like a topsail of a sailboat, hence the name gávea, which in portuguese means 'topsail'.

like the other neighborhoods of the region, gávea was originally a plantation during the time of antónio salema's governance, where land was used for pasture and crop-growing. the first crop to be cultivated was sugar cane, then later, in the early years of the 21st century the widespread production of coffee begun. 

the main access point to the neighborhood, fittingly called the caminho da boa vista, or literally, 'the path with nice views,' was dotted with farms and small mansions.