''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, railway line, canal or border, boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks like Mileage sign, mileage signs; or they c ...

was installed in front of the

São Paulo Cathedral The Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady Assumption and Saint Paul (), also known as the See Cathedral (), is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of São Paulo, Brazil. Its current and seventh metropolitan archbishop is Dom Odil ...

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 ...

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 ''O Estado de S. Paulo'' (; ), also known as ''Estadão'' (; ), is a daily newspaper published in São Paulo, Brazil. It is the third largest newspaper in Brazil, and its format changed from broadsheet to berliner on October 17, 2021. It has th ...

'' 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., erected in 1923 as the initial milestone from which all road distances in the United States would be measured. Location The monument stands just south of the White Ho ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and to the ''

Milliarium Aureum The ''Milliarium Aureum'' (; ), or the "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 Rome. All roads were considered to begin ...

'' (golden milestone) in

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

. 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 States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District (Brazil), Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Ge ...

, Santos,

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

Paraná Paraná, Paranã or Parana may refer to: Geology * Paraná Basin, a sedimentary basin in South America Places In Argentina *Paraná, Entre Ríos, a city * Paraná Department, a part of Entre Ríos Province In Brazil *Paraná (state), a state ...

, and

Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – ) is one of the states of Brazil, the List of Brazilian states by area, third largest by area, located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible ...

, 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 ...

Tietê River The Tietê River ( ) is a Brazilian river in the state of São Paulo. The first known use of the name Tietê was on a map published in 1748 by d’Anville. The name means "truthful river", or "truthful waters”, in Tupi. The Tietê River i ...

, and

Luz Station Luz Station (, ) is a commuter rail and intercity rail station in the Bom Retiro (district of São Paulo), Bom Retiro district of São Paulo, Brazil, serving RFFSA, the intercity rail network of Brazil, Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos ...

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) Kilometre-zero markers Monuments and memorials in São Paulo