in rio de janeiro, between the sea and the mountains, among two luxurious neighborhoods – leblon e são conrado -It is a mythical and desired place. rejected and envied. developed and precarious. there is the Vidigal community. with about 50,000 residents, according to local estimate, the hill is an example of struggle, cultural production and community life. Vidigal is … a small town, in one of the most desirable cities in the world, and is proud to have been the first Brazilian slum visited by a pope specifically john paul II in 1980.

considered the “southern part of the slums”, “new Santa Teresa,” or simply for the most intimates, “paradise”, the vidigal lived historical turbulences, as the struggle of the residents against the removal, in 1978, the traffic entry in the 1980s – that between 2004 and 2006 led to a war between factions – the apparent tranquility of the second half of the 2000s, to the peace process, initiated in 2011, with the police army occupation and consolidated with the installation a pacifying police unit (upp) in January 2012.

its tourist potential that goes far beyond the “favela tour” with workshops, charming bars, parties that are already among the most famous of the city, the trail to the top of the hill “dois irmãos” and the growing supply of hosting is promise of a future expansion, which fills the eyes of many and frightens many others who can stay out of this process.