São Paulo’s Ground Zero is in Praça da Sé, in the heart of the capital. Set up in 1934, it initially appeared to list the homes in the area. Then, to point out the distances of the São Paulo highways and the four states from the state borders.
According to researchers, the monument is intended to organize a system, becoming a reference point in the numerical ordering of the city’s roads. In this way, it is meant to represent the geographical center of the city hall. Find out more about it below!
São Paulo’s Ground Zero: understand the monument
Ground Zero consists of a hexagonal prism covered in marble. On its sides are some of the main Brazilian landmarks such as Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Santos and Goiás, representing their directions.
The city of Santos (south-east direction) is represented by a steamship; the state of Paraná (south direction) by an Araucaria tree; Rio de Janeiro (north-east direction) with a banana tree and the Sugar Loaf; Minas Gerais (northbound) with mining equipment; Goiás (northwestbound) the bateia used in mining; and Mato Grosso (southwestbound) with the clothing of the bandeirantes.
On the top, there is a bronze plaque with a partial map of the City of São Paulo, with the symbol and offer of the Touring Club of Brazil, dated 1934. The main roads in São Paulo at that time are identified on the small map: the avenues Celso Garcia, Paulista and São João, the Ipiranga Museum and the Faculty of Medicine, for example.
In 2007, the municipal body responsible for the city’s historical heritage listed Marco Zero as a landmark. After all, there’s nothing more fitting to recognize the monument as a strong São Paulo sentiment. In addition to highlighting its role in shaping the state of São Paulo and other parts of the country.
