Morro da Babilônia

[3] The Morro da Babilônia favela was founded at the end of the 19th century, when the army set up an observation post on the hill in Leme.

The other explanation is that at the nearby tramway station (which has disappeared) the brewery Brahma had a bar that sold a beer with the name Babilônia.

[4][5] In the 2nd World War (1939 - 1945) the Brazilian Army constructed casemates on the top of the hill to protect the city against eventual attacks.

[4] Babilônia has been controlled for years by drug traffickers linked to the Terceiro Comando (Third Command) organization, which imposed its rules by force on the community.

In addition to controlling the illegal drug trade, the gunmen monopolized other services like the supply of cooking-gas cylinders and imposed rules on the population such as the times when they could come and go and the law of silence.

Over time other mosaics appeared in the area, improving the visual and confirming Mural Babilônia as a tourist reference point in Zona Sul of Rio de Janeiro.

The film Tropa de Elite (2007) is about the police actions in Babilônia in 1997, before the visit of the pope to Rio de Janeiro, when the elite squad BOPE (Special Police Operation Battalion) is assigned to eliminate the risks of the drug dealers in a dangerous slum nearby where the pope intends to be lodged.

After a renovation, Estúdio Vertical has reopened and features a purpose-built 8mx6mx4m U-shaped seamless blank cyclorama for photography, video and multi-camera TV production.