''Marco Zero'' (Zero Milestone) is a geographic monument in downtown São Paulo. In 1934, the marble

milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...

was installed in front of the

São Paulo Cathedral The São Paulo Metropolitan Cathedral ( pt, Catedral Metropolitana de São Paulo), also known as the See Cathedral ( pt, Catedral da Sé), is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of São Paulo, Brazil. Its current and seventh Metro ...

on the

Praça da Sé Praça da Sé (English: '' See Square'') is a public space in São Paulo, Brazil. Considered as the city's central point, it is the point from where the distance of all roads passing through São Paulo are counted. The square was the location of ma ...

to symbolize the center of the city. The sculpture is a both a tourist attraction and a central point of reference for street numbers in the city. Marco Zero has been registered for historic preservation since 2007.

History

Originally proposed by journalist Américo Netto in 1921, the project to mark an official center of the city with a monument was not adopted until 1932 by mayor Antônio Carlos de Assumpção. Prior to this period, streets and highways were numbered based on at least three different ''marcos zero'' scattered around São Paulo. Netto wrote his ideas in the '' Estado de São Paulo'' newspaper and ''Boas Estradas'' magazine (where he was an editor) complaining of the confusion that this decentralized approach caused. Four months prior to the inauguration of Marco Zero, Netto compared this new monument to both the

Zero Milestone The Zero Milestone is a zero mile marker monument in Washington, D.C. intended as the initial milestone from which all road distances in the United States should be measured when it was built. At present, only roads in the Washington, D.C. a ...

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

and to the ''

Milliarium Aureum The ''Milliarium Aureum'' (; it, Miliario Aureo), also known by the translation Golden Milestone, was a monument, probably of marble or gilded bronze, erected by the Emperor Augustus near the Temple of Saturn in the central Forum of Ancient ...

'' (golden milestone) in

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

. Since it was installed in 1934, Marco Zero on the Praça da Sé has remained the official spot from which roads, highways, rail lines, and telephone lines are marked.

Features

Marco Zero was designed by Jean Gabriel Villin, based on ideas from Américo Netto. It is a carved hexagonal marble structure on a granite pedestal with a bronze plate on the top. Each side of the monument is decorated with the name of the city or state which it faces. For example, the side facing northeast has the words "Rio de Janeiro" along with an outline of the Pão de Açucar. The other sides are marked with

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goi ...

, Santos,

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

, Paraná, and Mato Grosso, along with iconic images for each. On the bronze top, the names are repeated along the sides and in the center is a map of the city of São Paulo with important landmarks and roads leading out of the city. These engravings include:

Avenida Paulista Paulista Avenue (Avenida Paulista in Portuguese, ''Paulista'' being the demonym for those born in the state of São Paulo) is one of the most important avenues in São Paulo, Brazil. It stretches and runs northwest to southeast. Its northwest p ...

Tietê River The Tietê River ( Portuguese, Rio Tietê, ) is a Brazilian river in the state of São Paulo. The name Tietê was registered for the first time on a map published in 1748 by d’Anville. The name signifies "The truthful river", or "truthful w ...

, and

Luz Station The Luz Station ( pt, Estação da Luz, ) is a railway station in the Luz neighbourhood in São Paulo, Brazil. The station is part of the metropolitan rail system run by the CPTM. The station houses the Museum of the Portuguese Language, estab ...

Preservation

In 2007 Marco Zero was registered as a protected monument by the Municipal Council for the Preservation of Historical, Cultural, and Environmental Patrimony of the City of São Paulo ( Conpresp). Three similar stone monuments, marking the outer edges of the city, all dating to 1916, were registered by Conpresp in June 2013. These markers are located in the districts of Butantã, Vila Mariana, and Ipiranga.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marco Zero (Sao Paulo)

Sao Paulo SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U ...

Kilometre-zero markers