Copacabana beach
| Copacabana | |
|---|---|
| Neighborhood | |
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 Copacabana
Copacabana
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| Coordinates: 22°58′1″S 43°10′50″W / 22.96694°S 43.18056°WCoordinates: 22°58′1″S 43°10′50″W / 22.96694°S 43.18056°W | |
| Country |
 Brazil
|
| State | Rio de Janeiro (RJ) |
| Municipality/City | Rio de Janeiro |
| Zone | South Zone |
Copacabana (local and standard Portuguese pronunciation: [kɔpakɐˈbɐ̃nɐ] or [kɔpɐkaˈbɐ̃nɐ], rarely [kɔpakaˈbɐ̃nɐ] and [kopɐkaˈbɐ̃nɐ] in other Brazilian dialects) is a bairro (neighbourhood) located in the South Zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is known for its 4 km (2.5 miles) balneario beach, which is one of the most famous in the world.
The district was originally called Sacopenapã (translated from the Tupi language, it means "the way of the socós", the socós being a kind of bird) until the mid-18th century. It was renamed after the construction of a chapel holding a replica of the Virgen de Copacabana, the patron saint of Bolivia. The name may be derived from the Aymara kota kahuana, meaning "view of the lake." The social scientist Mario Montaño Aragón found in the "archives of Indias" in Sevilla, Spain, a different history: "Kotakawana" is the god of fertility in ancient Andean mythology, the equivalent to the classical Greek goddess Aphrodite or the Roman Venus. This god is androgynous and lives in the Titicaca, and his court consists of creatures (male and female) that are represented in colonial sculptures and in Catholic churches. They were called "Umantuus", known as mermaids in Western culture.
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