the neighborhood of vidigal is prominently located on the sides of the morro dois irmaos, towering over the neighboring leblon and ipanema beaches, it was named after one of the early owners of the land, major miguel nunes vidigal.

the main entrance to vidigal is on avenida niemeyer, the ocean-side road connecting vidigal to the rest of the south zone.    

he was an officer of the original guarda real de polícia (king's police force, later transformed into today's rio de janeiro's military police) and a very influential, powerful, and feared man of his times.

vidigal was formally recognized as a neighborhood in 1981, and is one of the most important favelas in rio de janeiro, due to its visible presence in the zona sul (south zone), on the sides of the dois irmãos, the two-peak landmark mountain.