The neighbourhood
Vidigal, Rio's artists' neighbourhood.
A hill between Leblon and São Conrado, facing the ocean, where Rio comes to dance, paint, play and watch the sunset. Vila Oriba is at the bottom of this street.
One community, one street, a view over all of Rio
Vidigal is a community of around 13,000 people clinging to the Dois Irmãos hill, between Leblon beach and São Conrado beach. A single street winds up from the square on Avenida Niemeyer to the top. Pacified in 2011, the neighbourhood has become in fifteen years one of the places Cariocas themselves come to visit: for the view, for the hilltop bars, for the Dois Irmãos trail — and for a village atmosphere found nowhere else in the South Zone.
A place of creation
The Nós do Morro theatre, founded here in 1986 by Guti Fraga, trained a whole generation of Brazilian actors: Babu Santana, Thiago Martins, Jonathan Haagensen, Roberta Rodrigues, Douglas Silva — the faces of City of God. The artist Vik Muniz, known worldwide for his portraits made of recycled materials, built his studio and school in Vidigal, the Escola do Vidigal, which introduces the neighbourhood's children to art and technology. Parque Sitiê, a former dump turned into an ecological park by residents, has become a model of community urbanism studied at Harvard. And on every wall, murals: Vidigal can be visited like an open-air gallery.
A place to celebrate
At the top, Bar da Laje and Mirante do Arvrão host samba, forró and DJs facing the ocean; Brazilian artists have recorded concerts there. At weekends, the Vila Olímpica hosts football tournaments and dance schools. And in the evening, Vidigal square smells of churrasco and caipirinha.
A place that draws people with a choice
David Beckham bought a house here in 2014, won over by the view. The Sheraton Grand Rio occupies the foot of the hill, with its shared beach. Rents have long been higher here than in Rio's other communities: Vidigal has become an address.
From the house
Vila Oriba is at the entrance of the neighbourhood, a six-minute uphill walk from the square. The beach is seven minutes away, Leblon five minutes by taxi, the start of the Dois Irmãos trail ten minutes by moto-taxi. The team will point you to the bars, murals and local guides it recommends.