and
Leblon at the background. neighborhood. Although it receives its waters from diverse river
tributaries from the surrounding hillsides, among those that stand out is the river Rio dos Macacos (today channelized), which introduces contaminated water. The water of the lagoon comes from the
damming of an opening to the sea caused by successive build-ups of earth. This separates it from the
Atlantic Ocean, except for the
Canal do Jardim de Alah. Initially inhabited by the
Tamoios Indians who dominated the lagoon, such as Piraguá ("Still Water") or Sacopenapan ("Path of the Herons"). The arrival of the Portuguese colonizer, Dr António Salema (1575–1578), who was at the time also the Governor and Captain General of the
Captaincy of
Rio de Janeiro, intended to install a
sugar mill on the banks of the lagoon. To free himself of the undesirable presence of the native Indians he spread clothes that had been worn by people sick with
smallpox along the banks of the lagoon intending to kill the Indians. Such was the sugar cane plantation and the building of the "Engenho d'El-Rey" ("The King's Mill"), where today's Centro de Recepção aos Visitantes do Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro (the
Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden Visitors' Reception Center) operates. These lands were once acquired by Salema from the town
councilor, Amorim Soares, causing the lagoon to be called "Lagoa de Amorim Soares" (Amorim Soares Lagoon). With his expulsion from the city in 1609 the land was sold to his son-in-law, Sebastião Fagundes Varela, with the consequent name change to "Lagoa do Fagundes" (Fagundes' Lagoon). That landowner, by way of acquisition and invasion, increased the size of his landholdings in the region, in such as way that around 1620 he owned all the land from today's neighborhoods of
Humaitá to
Leblon. In 1702, his great-granddaughter, Petronilha Fagundes, then 35 years old, married the young Portuguese
Cavalry official, Rodrigo de Freitas de Carvalho—then only 18 years old — which lends his name to the lagoon. A
widower, Rodrigo de Freitas de Carvalho returned to Portugal in 1717 and died there in 1748. The region stayed in the hands of the tenants without great fanfare until the beginning of the 19th century. Then, in 1808, the Portuguese Royal Family arrived during the
transfer of the Portuguese court to Brazil. The Prince Regent appropriated the Engenho da Lagoa (Lagoon Mill) to build a powder factory and construct the Real Horto Botânico (Royal Botanical Garden) — today's Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro (
Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden). During the 19th century many diverse solutions were thought of for the problem of stagnated water — until, in 1922, the Repartição de Saneamento das Zonas Rurais (Bureau of Rural Sanitation) presented a project to "... clean up and beautify the Capital for the Independence Centennial festivities". That project involved
dredging a canal to reconnect the lagoon to the sea, and deepening the land bar. The soil removed to build the canal formed the island of Caiçara, within the lagoon, site of
Caiçaras Club (
pt). In a short time,
embankments formed on its edges, which gradually reduced its surface area, providing land for the Jockey Club Brasileiro, the
Jardim de Alah, and the sport seat of the Clube Naval on the island of Piraquê. The dredged channel is now called the Jardim de Alah Channel. The lagoon today represents one of the principal tourist attractions of the capital of Rio de Janeiro. It is also known as "The Heart of Rio de Janeiro". The Lagoa neighborhood named after the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. It is an
upper middle-class neighborhood and it has one of the largest
human development indexes in the country. Part of the lagoon is landfill that occurred in the middle of the 20th century. Many hills, such as
Catacumba, Praia do Pinto, and others, occupied the area around the lagoon. For many years they housed more than fifty thousand people. However, because of poor construction quality and safety risks, after more than twenty years on the hillsides the mayor expelled all of the inhabitants and "tore down" the hills, burying a large part of the city. The inhabitants left for the suburbs and started to live in housing. Apartment buildings and parks were built in the place of the hillsides .
Venues With 2.4 million
square meters (0.93 square
miles) of surface area, aquatic sports such as rowing or simply biking happen around its reflecting water. It is home to a rowing stadium (Estádio de Remo da Lagoa), a paved biking path of 7.5
kilometers (more than 4.5
miles), diverse leisure equipment, and food
kiosks that offer regional and international
gastronomy items. Some of the most important sports clubs in the city are by the lagoon: •
Clube de Regatas do Flamengo • Jóquei Clube Brasileiro • Clube Naval Piraquê na ilha do Piraquê •
Paissandu Atlético Clube •
Caiçaras Club (
pt) •
Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama (nautical seat) • Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas (nautical seat) • Lagoon Complex Convention Center The lagoon is surrounded by the districts of
Ipanema,
Leblon,
Gávea,
Jardim Botânico,
Copacabana,
Botafogo, and
Humaitá. It attracts quite a number of visitors during the Christmas holidays because of its famous and gigantic Christmas Tree, which is built over a floating platform that moves around the lagoon. The
Eva Klabin Foundation is located on the banks of the
lagoon. The lagoon will host
canoe sprint and
rowing events for the
2016 Summer Olympics, and rowing events for the
2016 Summer Paralympics. ==Rowing Stadium==